While many certainly wish for spring at this point, winter is an important season for Daimler Truck. To put its eActros 300 electric truck and the recently introduced LongHaul variant through their paces even in icy and cold conditions, the fleet headed some 3,000 kilometres north.
The tests themselves are nothing special for Mercedes-Benz. Engineers have been heading up to Rovaniemi, Finland, for vehicle tests for years. But this was the first time the manufacturer had “a large fleet of electric vehicles,” explained Christof Weber, Head of Global Testing Daimler Truck, at a digital roundtable. The goal was to see whether the truck delivered what it promised – at an outside temperature of minus 25 degrees Celsius. “Let me say this much up front: we were pleasantly surprised,” says Weber. “That’s exactly what it did.”
According to Weber, engineers paid particular attention to recuperation during testing. After all, he says, that is one key difference from the internal combustion vehicle. “It’s all very exciting, of course, because I can recover energy that way and extend my range,” he says. Weber says some kind of braking strategy is needed to take full advantage of recuperation. “How do I balance recuperation and braking in general when I’m driving a tractor-trailer, and the tractor-trailer also has to brake the weight of the trailers? It’s all a bit different than what we know from combustion vehicles.”
“Now it gets really interesting,” he adds, “recuperation is like a retarder regarding braking capability. And, of course, that all has to be coordinated with the new assistance systems.” With the Active Sideguard Assist, for example. It warns the driver of moving cyclists or pedestrians next to the vehicle and can initiate emergency braking. But it also has to work with systems designed to assist drivers in changing weather conditions.
Mercedes-Benz Trucks winter testing in Finland
These were also put under the microscope in Finland. Because, says Weber, assistance systems should give as few error warnings as possible. That means they must be able to distinguish whether a road is already icy or just wet – and that in changing light conditions. If the systems provide optimum support for the driver, the latter would be much more relaxed when reaching his destination, even after a long journey. Weber says he experienced this, not least on the trip to Finland.
The trucks covered around 2,800 kilometres to Rovaniemi. The eActros LongHaul, with series readiness planned for 2024, was loaded on the back of a conventionally powered lorry because it is not yet road-legal. But the distribution vehicles, the eActros 300, drove there independently and thus had to make one or two charging stops.
Charging took place at existing charging points, i.e. at truck stops and pillars reserved for passenger cars. “Today, we don’t have that many truck-only charging stations, but you can also charge at a car charging station. But then you need two or three parking spaces,” Weber says.
The battery-electric tractor unit can be charged with up to 160 kW. At a DC fast charging station with 400 A charging current, it takes just over an hour to charge the three batteries from 20 to 80 per cent. Series production of the eActros as a tractor unit is scheduled for the second half of 2023. The LongHaul will sport a 600 kWh battery and close to 600 kW peak power.
Source: Daimler Truck
