Photo credits @ Webasto

Electric lorry with pantograph provides “optimised economics,” says manufacturer

An electric lorry using a pantograph provides optimized economics and cuts CO2 emissions by 50% compared to diesel HGVs, claims German electric car charger manufacturer Webasto. The company will show off its latest development at the IAA Transportation fair in Hannover at the end of September.

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The German electric car charger manufacturer Webasto, in collaboration with the “Production Engineering of E-Mobility Components” (PEM) Chair at RWTH Aachen University, Germany, is presenting an electrified lorry featuring pantographs at the upcoming IAA Transportation trade fair.

Heavy trucks are responsible for a significant proportion of the transport sector’s current CO2 emissions, therefore, Webasto’s primary objective has been to develop multiple electric trucks in which the powertrains are selected on an application-specific basis, thereby delivering optimized economics.

The prototype has already successfully completed its first outdoor tests, indicating the huge potential offered by this project, says the company.

Since the required infrastructure can be implemented fairly quickly according to Webasto, current studies indicate that using catenary trucks can cut CO2 emissions by some 50 per cent compared with conventional trucks by 2030.

“The goal is to further optimize the system and achieve a higher degree of maturity. We are aiming to reach a point where the modular drive train unit is not only fully developed but is also of real interest from a commercial perspective,” says Simon Dünnwald, Group Manager E-Mobility Production Engineering at PEM.

Michael Bauer, Vice President Business Line Energy Management at Webasto, adds:

“The transportation of goods and freight is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the transport sector. This means that commercially viable electric alternatives are more important than ever. So we are naturally supporting this fantastic project and continuing to assist the responsible parties.”

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