LOGAN TOWNSHIP, N.J. – Mitsubishi Fuso Truck of America has noted that its parent company, Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation, is well along in the development of a new all-electric, battery-powered FUSO Canter FE-Series medium-duty cabover work truck. A year of in-use testing has demonstrated that FUSO E-Cell trucks can generate a 64 percent savings in operating costs compared to an equivalent diesel-powered vehicle in the same service.
To ascertain the level of interest in an electric work truck in North America, MFTA will show a Canter E-Cell truck in its booth (#5159) at the NTEA 2016 Work Truck Show in Indianapolis, March 2–4. In addition to the truck shown in the company’s booth, a second E-Cell truck will be available for the Green Truck Summit Ride-and-Drive event at the show.
In-use testing demonstrates benefits of the all-electric e-cell truck
To prove the value of an all-electric work truck, MFTA’s parent company conducted a field trial using eight prototype vehicles, with varied flatbed/stakebody and dry van bodies installed. These trucks were operated by fleet customers in Europe, where the vehicles are assembled. The fleet managers were asked to put the E-Cell trucks to use in routine service while Mitsubishi Fuso engineers closely monitored the vehicles’ performance and use profiles for a full year.
An analysis of the data revealed that the Canter E-Cell work trucks required an average of 76.6 kwh/100 miles (47.6 kwh/100 km), compared to an equivalent Canter’s average diesel fuel consumption of 3.72 gallons/100 miles (14.08 liters/100 km). Actual cost savings in any particular region would depend on the cost in that region of diesel fuel and electricity. Based on diesel fuel pricing and electricity costs in the European locations where the trucks were operated, over the period of the testing, the E-Cell trucks produced a cost savings of 64 percent.
Not only did the eight test vehicles produce impressive operating cost savings, but they also produced zero CO2 or other tailpipe emissions, and even delivered a 37-percent reduction in CO2 emissions compared to diesel-powered trucks, after accounting for emissions generated by the power plants creating the electricity needed to recharge the batteries.
In addition to in-depth performance data, the company elicited customer evaluations of the vehicles’ practicality, suitability for their specific operating requirements and their ease of use. Results have been quite positive, with all customers reporting that, when used as intended, the trucks performed well. Types of service included express package delivery and freight forwarding in urban environments, municipal refuse and public works service, and forestry service equipment and debris hauling.
Additional testing and customer product evaluations are currently being planned for the United States over the coming months.
For more information about Mitsubishi Fuso and its Canter work trucks, visit www.mitfuso.com. See and drive the Canter E-Cell at the Work Truck Show in Indianapolis, Indiana, March 2–4, 2016.
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