Skip to main content

Australia’s first all-electric truck takes to the road

Australian express road freight company, Toll Group, has unveiled what it says is the country’s first all-electric truck. Toll will use the 10-tonne Smith Electric vehicle during an initial three-month trial that will look at how the vehicle performs in Australian conditions, and its operational cost. Toll will use data from on-board diagnostics that can be viewed online to monitor the vehicle’s performance in real-time. The truck has a range of up to 200 kilometres and a top speed of 95km/h. It uses
September 4, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
Australian express road freight company, 7475 Toll Group, has unveiled what it says is the country’s first all-electric truck.

Toll will use the 10-tonne Smith Electric vehicle during an initial three-month trial that will look at how the vehicle performs in Australian conditions, and its operational cost. Toll will use data from on-board diagnostics that can be viewed online to monitor the vehicle’s performance in real-time.

The truck has a range of up to 200 kilometres and a top speed of 95km/h.  It uses a Lithium-ion 80 kW battery and requires five to six hours overnight charge.

Speaking at the unveiling, Toll Group Environment and Energy General Manager Nick Prescott said Toll is constantly looking for ways to apply new technologies and practices to reduce the consumption of non-renewable resources.

“We are extremely excited to be the first to get a look at this type of vehicle,” Prescott said. “It is an example of the sorts of things we’re doing as part of our broader smarter green environmental program, which looks at the use of smarter fuels such as biodiesels, compressed natural gas and electric vehicles, but only when it makes operational and economic sense to do so. The Smith Electric adds to the many CNG, LNG and hybrid vehicles we operate in Australia and globally.”

Related Content

  • June 16, 2016
    Electric vehicles accounted for largest share of hybrid and EV battery market in 2015
    According to research by P&S Market Research, the global hybrid and electric vehicle battery market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 20 per cent in terms of value during 2016-2022. The report, Global Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Battery Market Size, Share, Development, Growth and Demand Forecast, claims that, among the various applications, the electric vehicle segment accounted for the largest share (46.5 per cent) of the hybrid and electric vehicle battery market in terms of value in 2015. Electric vehi
  • October 2, 2018
    Shock therapy: jolt for EV charging needed
    As sales of electric vehicles accelerate, the growth of charging infrastructure is in need of a big boost. Graham Anderson reports on whether Europe is up to it. Utilities, technology companies and vehicle manufacturers are battling to put in place new charging networks for electric vehicles (EVs) across Europe in response to a predicted dramatic surge in demand. Market experts believe that rapidly falling battery costs – which make up about one third of the costs of an electric car – and growing
  • September 12, 2012
    Preparations building for French national truck toll
    The Autostrade led Ecomouv consortium is developing the next big system of truck tolling likely to be introduced in Europe – France’s ‘Eco-tax’. Jon Masters reports. Since October last year, a consortium of companies has been working on developing the technological and administrative systems necessary for a national system of truck tolling in France. Eco-tax, France’s truck toll, is not necessarily going to be implemented. The Ecomouv consortium has been set up as a long term concessionaire, but so far only
  • September 2, 2013
    Zero emission delivery vehicle project begins in Houston
    The Houston-Galveston Area Council (H-GAC) has teamed up with the Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE) and Smith Electric Vehicles Corporation to reduce vehicle emissions from delivery trucks in the region. As part of a US Department of Energy (DOE) sponsored effort, local fleets will replace existing diesel delivery vehicles with thirty all-electric medium and heavy-duty Smith Newton trucks for daily operations in the Houston-Galveston area.