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Part 4 of the five-part series on the electrification of mobility at Mercedes-Benz
Transporter under power
From the parcel floor to the supermarket truck. The majority of our consumer society and industrial world depend on vans and trucks. These vehicles drive manageable distances during the day, but these with many stops. In this application scenario in particular, a purely electric drive can show its advantages.
Summer buzzer
Mitsubishi Fuso, the commercial vehicle division of the diamond brand, is now largely part of the Daimler group, and so a FUSO can also be described as a pioneer of the Stuttgart electrification strategies. Several of the electric Fuso Canter E-Cell have been in a fleet test in Portugal since 2015. Since April 2016, 5 vehicles have been field tested in Stuttgart and are being tested by the city of Stuttgart and the parcel service provider HERMES.
90 km / h limit
How does such a light truck drive? The answer can only be: The biggest hurdle is climbing into the driver's cab. As usual, this sits slightly higher - and you sit directly above the front axle. Anyone who has already carried out the move with a truck themselves will find their way around the Fuso Canter E-Cell in no time. Depress the brake, key to “ignition”, the automatic selector lever to D and release the handbrake. Dead easy.
Doming used to be
An input gearbox makes switching operations superfluous, a more than welcome change, especially for city vans. The electric motor in the Fuso Canter delivers 110 kW (150 hp) and delivers 650 Nm to the rear axle. And that from the first turn. The electric truck rolls on smoothly, accelerates vigorously and only ends at a speed of 90 km / h. But that affects all trucks. A completely normal limit and already too high for the purpose in the city. The classic drive of the Canter also has 150 HP, but only 370 Nm and the driver has to sort the gears via a manual five-speed gearbox. During a test drive, the E-Cell Canter is a logical city and distribution transporter.
The fact that you are traveling with 650 Nm makes the E-Cell Canter appear surprisingly light-footed. Humming like a tram, the electric truck immediately convinces. Why can you still drive a diesel truck in the city in everyday life? No particle filter and no liter price can provide the answer.
The two recuperation levels either let the Fuso slow down gently or, in the stronger level, pull back a lot of power. The brake is hardly in operation at traffic lights and intersections. This in turn lowers operating costs. An electric truck does not need a new clutch, fewer brake pads and the number of lubricants also drops.
Charged by CheDeMo
The test trucks still have the drive and charging technology from the Mitsubishi Group. As is usual with Japanese electric vehicles, the E-Cell Canter is charged via a ChaDeMo DC connection. Alternatively via the Type 1 connector. Until the Fuso E-Cell Canter goes into series production, this could change in the direction of the CCS standard.
Read even more about E-strategy at Mercedes-Benz:
[divider] [/divider]- Part 1 - The fuel cell SUV
- Part 2 - The 48-volt technology for classic drives
- Part 3 - The electric car platform from Mercedes-Benz
- Part 4 - B2B electromobility in the city (from 1.7.)
- Part 5 - The new smart Electric Drive (from 8.7.)