Daimler Trucks announced that the Mercedes-Benz eActros electric truck is now roadworthy as a truck and trailer combination with a total weight of up to 40,000 kg or 40 tons.
The truck and trailer combination has now been handed over to the German logistics company, Scmitt Logistics to continue the durability test. However, the eActros electric truck is now available and can be ordered in that configuration.
Since its initial testing in 2019, eActros has covered more than 70,000 km on more than 7,000 trips. As part of this process, Daimler says it will continue to transport transmission housings and axle components to its factories in Rastatt and Gaggenau, Germany as part of its mission covering up to 300 km daily in the process.
“Starting intensive exchanges with customers at an early stage is an integral part of our vehicle development. For this reason, our team has been supporting the practical phase of testing eActros at Schmitt Logistics since 2019,” said Steffen Maier, Head of Customer Testing at Mercedes-Benz Trucks in a statement. officially, Friday (29/7/2022).
“After a successful series production launch last October, we are now gradually expanding the range of applications for eActros. We look forward to intensive testing with a battery electric truck and trailer combination in the northern Black Forest,” he added.
According to transport laws in Europe, to tow a trailer of more than 10 tons, a truck which is of course in the heavy duty segment must have a continuous or continuous braking system. In eActros, this continuous brake system is provided by a special HPR (High Power Brake Resistor) trailer brake for battery-electric vehicles.
The trailer towed by eActros is a center axle trailer with a Junge curtain cover body with an internal length of 7,280 mm and a gross weight of 18 tons. For this reason, Schmitt Logistics has specially designed the eActros 300 (6×2) with a Rockinger center axle trailer clutch.
As a driving force, the Mercedes-Benz eActros battery consists of three (eActros 300) or four battery packs (eActros 400) each offering a capacity of up to 112 kWh and a usable capacity of around 97 kWh. With these four battery packs, the eActros 400 has a range of up to 400 km while the eActros 300 can spill 300 km.
As the driving force, the eActros electric rigid axle is equipped with two electric motors integrated with a 2-speed transmission. The liquid-cooled electric motor is claimed to be able to pump continuous power of 442 hp to 590 hp as its peak power.
The eActros electric battery can be charged up to 160 kW on three battery packs taking just over an hour to charge from 20 to 80 percent in a standard DC fast charging station producing a charging current of 400 A.
Rainer Schmitt, Managing Partner of Schmitt Logistics said that in combination with trailers, electric trucks now offer not only higher total weight, but also significantly more haul volume.
“The Mercedes-Benz eActros as a truck and trailer combination is ideal for our purposes. This means we can carry twice as many payloaders in the same journey,” he said.
