Renault Trucks presents new medium-duty electric trucks
The new models complement the range of electric trucks developed by Renault Trucks for medium-duty freight transport; to date, the manufacturer has offered the 16-tonne E-Tech D Electric and the 19- or 26-tonne E-Tech D Wide Electric. The two models, the Renault Trucks E-Tech D12 for the French market and the Renault Trucks E-Tech D14 for other European markets, have the same design and performance, but meet the specific requirements of each market.
The E-Tech D12 for France has a gross vehicle weight of 12 tonnes, as its name suggests, while the E-Tech D14 has a gross vehicle weight of 14 tonnes. Renault Trucks specifies the payload as 5.6 tonnes for the E-Tech D12 and 6.7 tonnes for the E-Tech D14. Both are said to offer “excellent trade-off between carrying capacity and agility,” as Renault Trucks writes.
The models are 2.39 metres wide, have a wheelbase of 3.8 metres and are expected to have a turning radius of less than 7.3 metres – note that this is not the turning circle. This makes them the most compact and manoeuvrable vehicles in the manufacturer’s electric range. They are also said to be the only trucks in their category to ‘feature full air suspension at both the front and rear,’ offering a correspondingly high level of driving comfort.
As they are designed for urban distribution transport, the battery is also designed accordingly, as an unnecessarily large battery would be too expensive. Renault Trucks has therefore opted for a 176 kWh LFP battery, which is said to give both models a range of up to 220 kilometres, which, according to Renault, easily covers the needs of a whole working day in city traffic. On the AC side, they have a 43 kW onboard charger that enables “charging at alternating-current stations, which are widely available and easy to install.” In practice, however, 22 kW chargers are likely to be more common, as they are much more widely available than the 43 kW option. Even with 22 kW, the battery would take around eight hours to charge, making it usable overnight. With 43 kW, it would of course take only half as long. Renault Trucks does not mention DC charging in its press release.
Instead, the French company is emphasising the software services associated with electric trucks. “Drivers and fleet managers can remotely monitor charging data using the Driver App and plan their routes with the Optifleet Mission module, which come as standard. With the optional module Optifleet Charge, they can remotely control battery charging status and optimise charging cycles to maximise vehicle availability,” it says. The ’Serenity Pack’, a kind of electric mobility contract, is also being expanded: The pack “provides enhanced tracking and personalised assistance by Renault Trucks experts during the first year of operation, to guarantee optimal use of the electric truck.”
Both vehicles are available now, but Renault Trucks has not disclosed any prices. The models are built at the plant in Blainville-sur-Orne, where the manufacturer’s other electric trucks are also produced.
This article was first published by Sebastian Schaal for electrive’s German edition.
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