Mercedes Benz has announced one of its biggest ever deals for electric trucks. with Swiss global building material and cement company Holcim placing an order for 1000 battery electric trucks
Holcim says it will rely on the Mercedes-Benz eActros 600s to implement its sustainability strategy on a large scale.
The Swiss building materials producer plans to add the 1,000 Mercedes-Benz battery-electric trucks to its European fleet. The Mercedes eActros 600 debuted last October with both companies,having signed a joint letter of intent for the purchase.
The deal represents the largest planned single order to date for the eActros 600 contributing to a major achievement of sustainability goals for both companies.
The statement from Benz and Holcim says that the majority of the electric trucks will be used with silo trailers for the demanding transport of building materials such as cement.
According to Mercedes Benz, eActros 600 has a battery capacity of more than 600 kilowatt hours, which is why the model designation is 600, and also a new, particularly efficient electric drive axle developed in-house, enabling the e-truck to achieve a range of 500 kilometres without intermediate charging.
The company says that because of this the eActros 600 will be able to travel significantly more than 1,000 kilometres per day with intermediate charging during the legally prescribed driver breaks – even without megawatt-charging.
CEO Mercedes-Benz Trucks, Karin Rådström said Holcim is one of Mercedes-Benz Trucks’ most important customers in the construction industry.
‘We are very pleased that the company decided for the eActros 600 in its transformation towards alternative drives. Our electric truck with the three-pointed star sets new standards in terms of efficiency,” Rådström said.
Miljan Gutovic, region head Europe for Holcim: said the company is advancing the transition to more sustainable and efficient transportation by decarbonising our operations’ logistics.
“We are excited to be partnering with Mercedes-Benz Trucks to electrify our fleet, accelerating our goal for 30% of our heavy-duty truck purchases or contracts to be zero-emission by 2030,” Gutovic said.
Mercedes says that in addition to CCS charging with up to 400 kW, the eActros 600 will later also enable megawatt charging (MCS).
From the start of sales, customers can order a pre-installation for MCS and as soon as MCS technology becomes available and is standardised across manufacturers, it is planned to be retrofittable for the current models of the eActros 600.
The batteries can be charged from 20 to 80 per cent in about 30 minutes at a suitable charging station with an output of around one megawatt.
According to Mercedes-Benz the core of its concept for battery-electric long-distance transport is to offer customers a holistic solution consisting of vehicle technology, consulting, charging infrastructure and services.
Its says that the start of series production is planned for the end of 2024 while along with the prime mover, it will also produce rigid variants of the eActros 600 from market launch, offering customers further possible applications for all-electric transport.
It says that a fleet of around fifty prototype vehicles is currently being built, some of which are also to be put into practical testing with first customers in a next step.
