Mercedes eActros to Challenge Comparison with eWayBW Trolley Trucks

Mercedes Benz has been rigorously testing an eActros via Logistik Schmitt from Bietigheim since January 2021. This opens up the possibility for a later conceptual comparison with trolley trucks from eWayBW as part of the test project. An advanced, production-ready eActros will be delivered to Logistik Schmitt in the summer. Daimler does not plan to produce trolley trucks.

(Stuttgart/Gaggenau) The purely battery-electric Mercedes-Benz eActros has been proving itself in intensive practical testing at Logistik Schmitt since July 2019. So far, the eActros has covered around 50,000 kilometers in the Northern Black Forest and completed 5,000 trips with a total of over 100,000 load carriers. In doing so, it has transported around 30,000 tons of freight. This demonstrates that the battery-electric truck can perform the same tasks as a conventional diesel vehicle. As part of the multi-year test of the heavy electric truck in the Murgtal region near Rastatt and Gaggenau, a conceptual comparison with the eWayBW trolley project is planned for a later date – Daimler itself does not plan to produce trolley trucks. The eActros has also been successfully operating as a prototype with numerous other customers since 2018. The start of series production of the eActros at the Wörth plant is scheduled for this year.

Flexibility for Route Changes

Due to positive experiences, Logistik Schmitt has been using the eActros since January of this year on a new, more demanding route over the B462, which largely corresponds to the planned trolley route from eWayBW. The eActros was originally scheduled to start on this route in mid-2021 with a further developed variant of the electric truck. However, Mercedes-Benz experts want to take the opportunity to test the current prototype here as well. Since the eActros is powered solely by batteries, it offers full flexibility for short-term route changes. The new daily mileage now lies between 250 and 300 kilometers – over 100 kilometers more than before. While the load weight of the eActros has typically been around four tons, it now usually transports several times that on the additional route. The deployment of the eActros on the new route already represents a first step towards the conceptual comparison with eWayBW. Mercedes-Benz Trucks plans to hand over the advanced, production-ready prototype of the eActros to Logistik Schmitt this summer. This was announced today by Mercedes-Benz Trucks and Logistik Schmitt during a digital event at the Unimog Museum in Gaggenau, which is located directly on the B462.

Battery and Hydrogen-Based Fuel Cell

Dr. Manfred Schuckert, Head of Emissions and Safety, Daimler Commercial Vehicles in External Affairs: “We are focusing our development activities on the two truly locally CO2-neutral, fully electric drive technologies: battery and hydrogen-based fuel cells. With these, we can cover every application case of our customers with full flexibility regarding routes. Our practical tests with the eActros show that the battery-electric truck is excellently suited for heavy urban delivery traffic. For application cases requiring higher ranges and payloads, we plan to include the also purely battery-electric long-haul truck eActros LongHaul in our series offering starting in 2024. For even more demanding applications, we want to additionally expand our portfolio in the second half of this decade with series-produced long-haul trucks powered by hydrogen-based fuel cells. In our test project in the Northern Black Forest, we are already making very good progress with the battery drive.”

Flexible for Just-in-Time Use

Rainer Schmitt, Managing Partner of Logistik Schmitt: “We deliver to our customers just-in-time. In the case of blocked roads, construction sites, or other unforeseen events, we rely on being able to drive flexibly via alternative routes – and that is exactly what is possible with the eActros and its battery-electric drive. This allowed us to deploy it on the new, additional route at short notice. For charging the batteries, we can continue to use the existing infrastructure – the eActros only requires a charging station.”

“The eActros is perfectly integrated into our fleet, and we are convinced that it will also prove itself in its new, significantly more challenging field of operation. The eActros is absolutely reliable, highly energy-efficient, and our drivers are also enthusiastic about its advantages over conventional trucks. These include, above all, the quiet driving experience, the pleasant driving feel, and the continuous availability of torque up to energy recovery thanks to recuperation,” Schmitt continued.

Challenging Transport Task on the B462

In addition to the trips between the logistics location in Ötigheim of Logistik Schmitt and the Rastatt part of the Mercedes-Benz plant in Gaggenau, which have been running since 2019, the eActros now also operates routes from Ötigheim to the Mercedes-Benz plant in Gaggenau via the B462. Logistik Schmitt is also using the eActros on the new route instead of a conventional diesel truck. The eActros now runs six trips of 14 km to Rastatt and six trips of 28 km to Gaggenau daily, continuing to total twelve trips in a three-shift operation. The actual kilometers traveled amount to up to 300 per day, including trips on the company premises. The eActros is charged via a mobile charging station between individual trips during loading and unloading operations on the premises of Logistik Schmitt. On the trips to Rastatt, the eActros transports transmission housings, while it carries axle components to Gaggenau. Starting in summer 2021, the advanced, production-ready eActros will replace the current vehicle. The range of the existing eActros prototype with a full battery charge is around 200 kilometers, while the new vehicle will significantly exceed this.

Comparison with Trolley Trucks

As part of the eWayBW project, the transport of goods on the B462 near Rastatt is to be electrified through the operation of trolley trucks on a trial basis. This will also include comparison tests of the purely battery-electric eActros with the trolley trucks or fuel cell trucks from other manufacturers. The participants aim to collect important data and insights for comparing the respective vehicle concepts through trips on similar routes – with the eActros already actively operating on the new route that leads over the B462. In addition to these “parallel trips,” a direct comparison with the other trucks is also planned for a later date. In this case, the eActros will drive the exact trolley route under the same conditions as the trolley trucks for a defined period. This serves to validate the parallel trips. In the direct comparison, the eActros transports paper rolls over the approximately 18 km long route from the paper mills in Gernsbach-Obertsrot to the logistics location of the company Fahrner in Kuppenheim.

No Trolley Truck Planned by Daimler

Daimler Trucks is working as a global manufacturer on future solutions that can be implemented quickly worldwide. The company does not see this in the context of trolley systems. Daimler Trucks has a flexible concept with fully electric trucks – battery-electric or powered by hydrogen-based fuel cells – where development is progressing in large steps and which will achieve the complete decarbonization of road freight transport.

Electrification of the Daimler Truck Portfolio with Battery and Fuel Cell

Daimler Trucks & Buses pursues a sustainable corporate strategy and aims to offer only new vehicles that are CO2-neutral in operation (“tank-to-wheel”) in Europe, Japan, and North America by 2039. By 2022, the vehicle portfolio of Daimler Trucks & Buses is to include series vehicles with battery-electric drive in the main sales regions of Europe, the USA, and Japan. In the second half of this decade, Daimler Trucks & Buses plans to additionally expand its vehicle offering with series vehicles powered by hydrogen-based fuel cells. A CO2-neutral transport on the roads by 2050 is the ultimate goal.

Photo: © Daimler