Meijer to Check Electrical Vans in Chilly Climate Setting – Gas Smarts

Meijer deployed two all-electric Class 8 Freightliner eCascadia vans, and can monitor the efficiency of the vans in a chilly climate setting as a part of a grant from the U.S. Division of Vitality.

Meijer — a 2022 HDT Inexperienced Fleet — obtained the battery-electric vans earlier this month and celebrated its inaugural supply on Dec. 15 with a greater than 44,000-pound meals supply and donation to Gleaners Group Meals Financial institution in Detroit.

The vans will function out of the retailer’s Lansing Distribution Heart, which is now geared up with particular charging infrastructure. They are going to make a number of deliveries each day to Meijer supercenters inside a 200-mile journey vary of the distribution heart.

Meijer grew to become a check fleet for Freightliner in 2009 and was chosen in 2019 to check the producer’s battery-electric vans. After a profitable conclusion of testing and integration of buyer suggestions within the design and improvement course of, Freightliner is now rolling out the sequence produced battery-electric truck to prospects, together with Meijer that obtained the primary supply.

The retailer’s vans had been partially funded by a grant to Daimler Truck North America from the DOE’s automobile applied sciences workplace geared towards the demonstration of battery-electric industrial vans beneath various local weather situations. Meijer will proceed reviewing knowledge each day for temperature influence on mileage, cost instances, battery life optimization and driver consolation.

“By way of this partnership, we can assist speed up the business’s transformation to electrification by making use of priceless insights from knowledge collected and real-world functions in a chilly local weather setting and make a significant distinction relating to lowering greenhouse fuel emissions,” mentioned Mike Graham, senior vp of provide chain and manufacturing for Meijer. “We’re happy to work with Freightliner to additional put the eCascadia tractors into real-world functions exterior of southern California as we search for options to realize zero emissions.”

The Freightliner eCascadia is the zero-emission model of the Cascadia and is ideally suited to short-haul routes that enable for depot-based charging. It supplies a typical vary of 230 miles, relying on automobile configurations. A most battery capability of virtually 440 kilowatt hours can recharge 80% of the truck in roughly 90 minutes.

The 82,000-pound (GCW) truck comes commonplace with Detroit Assurance with lively brake help and lively facet guard help. The facet guard help engages at city speeds of 12 mph or much less to mitigate the truck from making a proper flip when a shifting bike owner or pedestrian is detected on the passenger facet of the truck.