Mercedes-Benz eActros Truck Begins Testing In Belgium

Mercedes-Benz Trucks has continued to expand the practical trials of its battery-powered eActros. Belgian logistics company Van Mieghem Logistics has begun operating the all-electric eActros. The family-owned company, which specializes in both international transport and national distribution services, is testing the eActros on daily distribution journeys of up to 200 km in the vicinity of the company’s headquarters in Saintes, Belgium.

The Mercedes-Benz eActros will be initially used for delivering pharmaceutical goods to hospitals and nursing homes. Additional tasks are planned to follow soon. The 25-ton truck is equipped with a Schmitz Cargobull refrigerated swap body, which is also electrically operated and therefore emission-free. The batteries of the truck are charged overnight at the company’s warehouse.

“The eActros has seen intensive customer tests in Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands since 2018,” said Peter Brock, CEO at Mercedes-Benz Trucks Belgium and Luxembourg. “We are proud to now have the first all-electric eActros in Belgium to be tested with Van Mieghem Logistics, an esteemed logistics company in the country.”

“The protection of natural resources is an integral element of our corporate activities,” said Laurent Van Mieghem, member of the management at Van Mieghem Logistics. “That’s why we already invested in solar panels on top of our new warehouse and are also investigating the installation of wind turbines on our company premises, which would be ideal for harvesting our own energy to power electric trucks and logistics warehouses in future.

“Our interest in CNG or LNG powered trucks has always been very moderate, as they still use fossil fuels. An all-electric truck however has always been on our minds and as a logistics company with a 90% Mercedes-Benz fleet, it was only obvious that we were very eager to participate in the Mercedes-Benz eActros tests. This is for our company the way to go to realize a CO2-neutral transport solution that meets our corporate values of sustainability and puts us in the driver seat when it comes to modern and environment-friendly technology.”

The swap body of the eActros used by Van Mieghem Logistics is the W.Ko Cool model from Schmitz Cargobull. It has optimized insulation for the energy-efficient transport of refrigerated goods. The vehicle bodies will be largely provided by Schmitz Cargobull also in the second test phase.

The eActros is based on the chassis of the Mercedes-Benz Actros, with the vehicle architecture completely geared to electric operation. Drive is provided by two electric motors close to the rear axle wheel hubs with an output of 126 kW each and a maximum torque of 485 Nm each. This results in 11,000 Nm each after the transmission ratio, which is a performance equivalent to that of a conventional truck, Mercedes-Benz said. The vehicle is equipped with 240 kWh lithium-ion batteries which can be fully charged within three hours (at 80 kW), depending on the available charging power.

The development and testing of heavy-duty electric trucks in distribution transport is being funded partially by the Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMU) and partially by the Federal Ministry of Economics and Energy (BMWi) as part of the Concept ELV² project.