SHOCK OF THE NEW: PART 2
This is the second part of ATN’s look at two of Australia’s electric commercial truck early adopters’ experience of their experiment in support of Ikea using SEA Electric-powered light rigids. In it, Paul Kahlert of All Purpose Transport and Finn Dunleavy of ANC explain the driver’s view, how the managers went about it and how they view the future.
DRIVERS’ TAKE
What driver training was there?
PK: I covered this in the routing part of the response – the vehicle needs to be driven differently to an ICE truck to maximise the regenerative braking and battery performance. We now have a program where a new driver travels as the ‘offsider’ for deliveries where they can see the different driving style and discuss this with an experienced driver.
FD: ANC selected some of our best delivery teams to become our first EV [electric vehicle] drivers. They were accomplished professional drivers already, but there was a learning curve in transitioning to driving a commercial EV. SEA played a crucial role, by providing training days and putting technicians in the trucks with our teams for the first month out on the road.
What was their attitude before?
PK: When the vehicle appeared at our depot, the initial response from the drivers was curiosity – they all climbed in the cabin, walked around the vehicle and commented that it was ‘just a Hino’. There was some scepticism from the older drivers who were quick to criticise the short delivery range, even though their ICE vehicle drove a similar distance with their planned routes. Comments were made such as: “I hope you have got a long extension lead”/”Do you want me to bring my camping generator to put in the back.”
FD: Unsure but excited.
And after?
PK: Drivers who have driven the vehicle all comment on the lack of vibration, ability to hear road users and speed off the mark as what they like. Our business model is using owner-drivers, so there is now an emerging appetite on when they can have one of these vehicles. Each day, the vehicle loads out of the Ikea warehouse adjacent to ICE vehicles – from the drivers’ perspective it is ‘just another truck performing home deliveries’.
FD: Surprised and over the moon. The drivers were blown away by the differences between what they had known about driving a truck and what the new EV vehicle offered them.
How did they handle the increased acceleration of an EV? Any speeding tickets?
PK: The driving teams have learnt that if you ‘drive it like you stole it’ from the lights, you will quickly diminish the range of the vehicle. It has become a ‘badge of honour’ for the driver to do the most distance and return the vehicle with highest battery percentage left.
[As for speeding tickets] fortunately no. We have the vehicle branded with Ikea, so it is important that our driving teams are seen as responsible road users. This is company equipment and we have strong COR [Chain of Responsibility] processes that would not support speeding tickets.FD: The EV trucks are incredibly responsive and agile, but they are also an 8,000kg truck running at full capacity, and they are governed to 110km per hour. Sustainability is important, but the safety of our people and of the general public is even more important.
How did they adjust to the silence of an EV?
PK: An unintended consequence of the silence is that the vehicle primarily delivers in residential areas. Traditional ICE trucks have engine noise that can alert pedestrians, so I have jokingly suggested that we should play ‘Mr Whippy’ music from the truck to warn pedestrians about the vehicles’ presence.
FD: Delivery teams found the quieter cabin environment a fantastic change to their day. Most truck drivers are used to sitting above a hot, vibrating, noisy engine, but in the EVs that is all gone, and they found communicating with customers prior to arriving at the delivery much easier to do in the new, improved cabin space.
How about brake use?
PK: Drivers like the vehicle ‘automatically’ restricting itself on the downward ascent.
FD: Regenerative braking is something they had to learn, in order to improve the energy recovery back to the battery packs, but it was all handled in the first week of on-road training with the team from SEA.
What did they report to management during the project?
PK: As above.
FD: In the beginning, ‘range anxiety’ was a big issue for the drivers, but after around two weeks, when they were more comfortable, all the feedback was nothing but good. We did have the odd day where charging issues overnight contributed to the vehicle not having enough charge to do a full day’s work, however, that was not an issue with the trucks but rather the charging equipment.
Are there any quotes from them?
PK: As above.
FD: Feedback from some of our drivers: “The EV is quieter and smoother than the diesel trucks. They’re great for driving in the local area and city driving. The customers love the EVs! They have a very positive impact at the delivery point, with customers intrigued to know which company the truck belongs to and whose initiative it was. We confirm it’s a partnership between Ikea and ANC.”
“Three to four days a week, customers ask questions about the EV such as ‘how many kilometres can the truck travel?’ and ‘how do you feel about driving it?’ We’ve even had customers calling their friends while we were on-site to say they just had a delivery by an EV!”
CLICK HERE FOR FULL ARTICLE covering “Management Experience”, and the “Future of EV”
Article by Fullyloaded.com.au ATN, Rob McKay, 21st January 2021
- Published in Articles, E-Range, Media Release, Mobile, Networking, News, SEA-Drive, Technology
SHOCK OF THE NEW: PART 1
Australia’s electric commercial trucks operational experience is still in its infancy but early Australian adopters are in a position to explain what it took to get this experiment on the road and what was learnt from it, in part one of a two-part series
While it might seem electric trucks have had at least a decade to prove their worth in Australia, the reality is that the country is only starting a journey that will be decades in the making.
Certainly, a few test vehicles found their way into a couple of the nation’s biggest fleets a decade ago or more.
But that can be seen as only the conception becoming a reality – a move at the cutting edge globally, before hydrogen fuel cell technology became something politicians and mainstream pundits knew about.
To gauge just how early we really are in the cycle, fast forward to 2020 and the reality is that there still is only one purveyor of commercial vehicle battery electric propulsion: SEA Electric.
Some competition is promised for the Victorian company that is now making progress in North America and has the local market, such as it is, to itself.
This, at a time when some customers are doing what they can to make their vehicle emissions reduction pledges a reality – global firm Ikea being one, but not the only one – and doing so on our shores using local transport companies.
Keep in mind also that the biggest vehicle in this effort is a light rigid.
Given the first steps have now been taken in what is effectively the start of the proof of concept stage and an experiment rivalling anything seen in Europe, ATN approached All Purpose Transport (APT) and ANC to gauge where they have taken us.
Each has had a year or more to work out how to set themselves up for EV use and how most effectively to use and work with them. APT, in the form of general manager Paul Kahlert (PK), and ANC, through national account manager Finn Dunleavy (FD), were able to respond quite comprehensively in a Q&A.
The questions sought insights into five main subjects: expectations, planning and testing, routes, truck performance and drivers’ experience. CLICK HERE FOR FULL ARTICLE
Article by Fullyloaded.com.au ATN, Rob McKay, 21st January 2021
- Published in Articles, E-Range, Media Release, Mobile, Networking, News, SEA-Drive, Technology
ACT Government launches first SEA electric tipper truck
Australian electric truck success story SEA Electric has supplied the first 100% electric tipper truck to the ACT Government this week, part of its target of running a zero emissions fleet by mid-2030.
SEA Electric, originally founded in Australia in 2012 but now headquartered in California, supplied a fully electric tipper truck powered by the company’s 100% electric SEA-Drive 100-10 power system.
With a 100kWh battery capacity producing up to 108kW maximum power and a range of up to 275-kilometres (unladen), the new electric tipper truck is able to deliver maximum torque of 1,000Nm and can be charged using its onboard three-phase charter to 80% within 5 hours.
“It was a pleasure to be present in our Nation’s capital for the handover of this 100% electric tipper truck” said Glen Walker, SEA Electric’s Regional Director, Oceania.
“This truck is ideally suited to the intended application of general cleaning and maintenance tasks. It will quietly go about its job whilst avoiding up to 30 tonnes of C02 annually that would otherwise be released by a diesel equivalent.”
Delivery of the new electric tipper truck is part of the ACT Government’s commitment to running a zero emissions fleet by the mid-2030.
“This 12-month trial of the new electric tipper truck supports the ACT Government’s strong commitment to sustainability which includes a commitment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in its operations to zero by 2040,” said Chris Steel, Minister for Transport.
Just this week, the ACT took the first steps towards delivering 90 electric buses, launching a sounding process for the supply of both the buses and the necessary supporting infrastructure.
The Transport Canberra’s Zero Emissions Transition Plan seeks to deliver a zero-emission public transport system by 2040 and has already started out with the introduction of a light rail to Canberra which has already seen 20% of its trips powered by 100% renewable electricity.
The ACT’s ambitious plans were part of a power sharing agreement between the ACT Labor and ACT Greens signed early November which also included a target of reaching net zero emissions by 2045. READ MORE
Article by The Driven, Joshua Hill, 23 December 2020
- Published in Articles, E-Range, Media Release, Mobile, Networking, News, SEA-Drive, Technology