One of the UK’s first all-electric Mercedes-Benz heavy trucks is now in service with London premium beverage supplier The Drinks Club.
The 4×2 eActros 300 is making daily deliveries of alcoholic and soft drinks to some of the capital’s best-known venues such as the Ritz, Dorchester and Hoxton Hotels.
It joins a fleet of 12 delivery vehicles, and is the operator’s first battery-powered model.
The truck is based on a 4×2 eActros 300. Fitted with three battery packs, for a total installed capacity of 336kWh, it has a range of up to 205 miles.
Its batteries can be recharged from 20 to 80% in 75 minutes, using a 400A 160kW charger.
On a typical 45-mile daily run, it is only using about 10 to 15% of a full charge to complete the route, says The Drinks Club.
The motors drive through a special transmission with two forward and two reverse gears, allowing the truck to cruise at up to 55 mph.
Dealer Rygor Commercials supplied the vehicle which is fitted with a rigid box body by Solent Bodybuilders, of Fareham, including a 2,000 kg Dhollandia cantilever tail lift.
Stuart Randall, The Drinks Club founder and Managing Director said: “For our first electric vehicle we decided the maximum operational benefit would come from replacing one of our biggest trucks, so this eActros is a direct substitute for a diesel-powered 18-tonner.
“Assuming it works well – and all the early indications are that it will – we’ll be looking to swap the rest of our fleet for battery-powered vehicles at the earliest opportunity.”
