/// WINTER TESTING\\\
Battery electric trucks face the freeze
Mercedes has been putting its latest range of battery electric heavy commercial vehicles through its paces in winter snow and ice test trials
Württemberg state in Germany and was the area chosen by Daimler to perform field tests on the latest prototypes coming out of the Mercedes-Benz truck division. Taking place in the last month of winter, the company knew its heavy lorries would face a suitably frosty reception for seeing how their battery mod- ules and powertrains would cope with the icy sub-zero conditions. All near-series prototypes of battery-elec- tric trucks from Mercedes-Benz go through similar trials, both in everyday transport op- erations at customer locations as well as in- tensive use on the company’s test facilities. On this occasion, test engineers from
T
Mercedes-Benz Trucks took the prototypes of the eActros and the eEconic models to the Swabian Jura in February to perform an in-depth series of different tests. The engi- neers paid particular attention to the be- haviour of the batteries and the electrical powertrain in extreme weather. The thermal and energy management systems were also intensively tested. These ensure that both the powertrain and the driver’s cab are maintained energy-efficiently at the right temperatures, even when the outside is ex- tremely cold. Despite its prototype status, the eActros is
no stranger to such tests as it has also been driving successfully through wind and weather as part of selected Daimler customer operations since 2018. Those tests reached a satisfactory conclusion and the latest evalu- ations performed earlier this year confirmed that the eActros and the eEconic are capable of performing in severe winter. Now, the company is preparing the launch
of series production of the Mercedes-Benz eActros for use in heavy-duty distribution en- vironments, an event that is planned for later this year. To achieve this aim, Daimler have had to make a number of modifications and the company now believes that the version of
28 /// Climatic & Vibration Testing \\\ 2021
Clockwise from above: the eActros will be used for heavy distribution work in a wide variety of climatic conditions; Mercedes-Benz engineers have been gathering data for both lorries during the tests to understand how the batteries, battery management systems and powertrains cope with
adverse climatic conditions; based on the eActros platform, the eEconic lorry is destined for municipal duties with both trucks having just completed testing in varying terrain at low temperature
the model that will be available for general sale will be significantly superior to the cur- rent prototype in a number of aspects. These improvements include the all-important driv- ing range, power delivery through the drive- train and safety. The eEconic is somewhat different from the
eActros in terms of its applications. Whereas the eActros is designed for long haul distri- bution operations, the low-floor eEconic will
be targeted at local distribution tasks and mu- nicipal operations. Initial deployments are ex- pected to be with local councils as a waste-collection vehicle in urban waste man- agement applications. Despite the differences in the way it is used,
the eEconic is nonetheless based on the eActros and so series production is expected to follow on from the eActros and is currently scheduled for the following year. C&VT
he large and picturesque region of the Swabian Jura stretches some 200km south of Stuttgart in the Baden-
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