Blackburn, UK: Electra Commercial Vehicles has funding from the European Horizon 2022 framework to build a long-haul 40-tonne temperature-controlled drawbar battery electric truck as part of the Escalate Project.
Escalate is a pan-European 37-member consortium from 13 countries, coordinated by FEV Europe. The project aims to develop heavy trucks above (40 tonnes) with electric drive, including battery electric, fuel cell, and fuel cell range-extended vehicles.
Officially started in January 2023, this €19m 42-month initiative seeks to deliver five pilot vehicles to demonstrate technological improvements with range, efficiency, and design of components.
Electra’s role in this project is to build one of the pilot vehicles – a 40-tonne drawbar battery electric vehicle capable of achieving 800km on a single charge, which Electra will demonstrate in the UK and Germany.
The truck will be based on an Electras’ E-Star chassis, (pictured above) with a drawbar trailer that will include electrically powered refrigeration, insulated box bodies with tail lifts, with lightweight, low-profile solar panels.
Ben Smith, managing director, Electra Commercial Vehicles, said: “The ground-breaking technology they will bring to the vehicle will shape a new chapter in Electra’s story. We are eager to showcase our industry-leading capability to design and integrate components into heavy-duty long-haul trucks. This project will be the perfect platform to demonstrate our skills and expertise in delivering sustainable zero-emission propulsion solutions.”
Steve Storrar, projects manager, Electra Commercial Vehicles, said: “Although this is a complex project with many partners, the collaboration will bring together the best solutions for heavy-duty electric and fuel cell vehicles for the UK, European and global markets. The planned demonstrations will showcase the possibilities with heavy trucks and hopefully remove some of the anxieties associated with operating and charging electrically driven HGVs.”
Electra provides the “clean vehicle technology” on OEM chassis built to suit operators, and providing service back-up, finance and maintenance packages.
