Australian Government funds largest electric truck delivery fleet trial

Freight and courier company Team Global Express (formerly Toll Global Express) will have Australia’s largest logistics battery-electric truck fleet trial thanks to funding from the Federal Government’s Australian Renewable Energy Agency (Arena).

The $44.3 million ‘Depot of the Future’ project, of which $20.1 million Arena is donating, will see 24 light Daimler/Mitsubishi Fuso eCanter and 36 medium Volvo FL Electric trucks join its express parcels fleet at its Bungarribee depot in Western Sydney.

The 60 all-electric trucks will gradually join the fleet over 18 months from early 2023 and make up one-third of the depot’s force.

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They’ll operate on a ‘back-to-base’ model, where they travel from distribution centres to Greater Sydney customers in urban and residential areas, then return back to the depot for charging.

The Bungarribee site will be fitted with chargers to top-up the trucks using generated solar energy, a new battery storage system and renewable energy from the grid.

Team Global Express says it chose the parcels fleet due to travel into urban areas where the electric trucks can better utilise regenerative braking, while reducing vehicle noise and air quality in the city.

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Fuso eCanter

The Fuso eCanter’s offer between 100 to 200km of claimed driving range depending on the model, while the FL Electric can drive for up to 300km.

“We expect the project will provide valuable insights into the costs and operational aspects of transitioning its wider fleet to zero emissions vehicles. Importantly, our goal is for the heavy vehicle industry to learn from this project as others consider their transition pathway,” Arena chief executive Darren Miller said.

“Operating a fleet of battery-electric heavy vehicles will help to address some of the key barriers to adoption, including overcoming the higher upfront purchase price, and uncertainty of integrating electric vehicles into existing operations at scale.

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“Understanding these barriers will help to build market confidence around EV technology and show that the transition to heavy electric vehicles is possible.”

Arena has given more than $100 million into the transport sector since 2016, including part-funding the rollout of public EV chargers from Evie Networks, Ampcharge, Chargefox and Engie providers.

It has also committed to other trials like vehicle-to-grid (V2G) for the ACT Government’s Nissan Leaf EV fleet and installing street-side power pole chargers with Intellihub in NSW.