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A battery-powered Mercedes-Benz eActros tractor unit has proved its readiness for work within the UK by finishing a gruelling five-day, 1,400-mile journey across the nation.
Hauling a regular street trailer, and absolutely freighted at 40 tonnes GVW, the eActros 600 simply noticed off the problem of this yr’s EV Rally occasion.
Held from July 1-5, EV Rally 2024 noticed 50 automobiles of various sizes and kinds set off from Oldbury within the West Midlands, on a tour that took in visits to 26 places corresponding to each letter of the alphabet — albeit with some inventive licence when it got here to the letters x and z.
Though the occasion was open to all electrical automobiles, simply two vehicles took half and the eActros was the one tractor unit. Day one concerned a 258-mile drive by way of 5 intermediate checkpoints to complete in Carlisle. Day two’s route lined 285 miles, ending on the Daimler Truck UK advanced at Wentworth Park, close to Sheffield.
Day three held the longest single day’s drive, at 366 miles on a circuitous path to Cambridge, whereas the fourth instalment noticed contributors cowl 315 miles to Exeter. Lastly, the final stint of 265 e-miles introduced the contributors by way of Wales to the end line in Chester. The eActros additionally visited most of the nationwide community of Mercedes-Benz truck sellers on its journey across the nation.
Daimler Truck UK Head of Future Sustainability, James Venables, was among the many eActros driving staff. He was interviewed on the finish of day two by Sara Sloman, of the EV Rally Media Crew, who noticed: “You’ve definitely stolen the show this year — whenever the eActros turns up, heads turn.”
James agreed and added: “The truck is massive, daring and thrilling and participating on this occasion has been nice enjoyable however, extra importantly, we’ve proved that our engineers are proper once they say the truck can cowl 500 km on a single cost.
“The EV Rally is all about showcasing at the moment’s electrical automobiles and the truth that a multi-day marathon journey may be very a lot achievable, utilizing the present community of charging factors. Because the nationwide infrastructure develops that may solely get simpler.
“With its fantastic range ability, potentially boosted even further by energy recovery through recuperation, we believe our eActros 600 could have completed each day’s course without the need for any additional recharging — but in the spirit of the event, to show how easy it is to top up during a day’s work, we did stop at some of the designated charge points. Using a 350 kW charger we were able to top up to 60% in about an hour, which was very impressive.”
James continued: “What we demonstrated, without doubt, is that the eActros 600 is perfectly capable of slotting into most UK road transport applications seamlessly, offering an option that’s entirely free of exhaust emissions while also being exceptionally smooth, quiet and comfortable to drive.”
The Mercedes-Benz eActros 600 is on the market to order now by way of the producer’s nationwide Seller Community, with manufacturing beginning in December.
