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Tipping point? FUSO electric truck passes 200-vehicle milestone
Three years ago, Freight & Logistics (the predecessor publication to Logistics Magazine), reported that three Logistics UK members – DPD, Wincanton and Hovis – had taken delivery of the FUSO eCanter, the world’s first mass-produced electric truck.
“I believe this represents just the beginning of a journey towards electrification for our urban fleets,” David Wells, Logistics UK’s Chief Executive, said at the time:
Fast forward to February 2021 and those words sound eerily prescient as deliveries of Daimler Trucks’ all-electric light duty truck FUSO eCanter pass the 200-vehicle milestone for the first time.
SERVICING WORLD CITIES
When it launched the eCanter in late 2017, the world’s first all-electric light-duty (7.49 tonne) truck in series production, FUSO aimed to stake its claim as a pioneer and leader in electric trucks, working towards providing sustainable, CO2-neutral transport. Today the urban delivery truck can be found operating in cities across the world, including New York, Tokyo, Berlin, London, Amsterdam, Paris, Dublin, Oslo, Copenhagen, Helsinki and Lisbon.
As of February 2021, more than 40 vehicles are running in the United States, over 60 trucks in Japan and more than 100 eCanter trucks are operating in Europe. FUSO estimates that the total distance travelled by the global eCanter fleet now exceeds a combined three million kilometres driven locally emission free – equivalent to circumnavigating the Earth an incredible 75 times.
DESIGNED FOR URBAN LOGISTICS
The 7.49-tonne vehicle has a driving range more than 100 kilometres with a single charge and, according to the manufacturer, is particularly well suited for local and inner-city distribution. As well as a workable range, the eCanter also has a payload of up to 4.15 tonnes, which is perfectly sufficient for many urban delivery rounds. Typically, the truck is deployed for short-radius deliveries of packaged goods, e-commerce orders and post, but it has been used to transport industrial gas.
CARBON NEUTRAL AMBITION
In Europe, customers of the eCanter include such household names as PostNL, Dachser, Deutsche Post DHL, Rhenus Group and DB Schenker.
FUSO has stated that its vision is to accelerate electrification and local zero emission transportation in the commercial vehicle industry, in line with the strategy of its owner Daimler Trucks. Its ambition is to have all new vehicles in its European, North American and Japanese markets “tank-to-wheel” CO2 neutral by 2039.
“The eCanter plays a significant role toward achieving carbon neutral transportation,” a spokesperson said, “with the ongoing movement toward carbon neutral societies addressed by various governments in European countries as well as overseas.”
*www.fuso-trucks.com
Published On: 25/02/2021 17:00:41
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