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.”

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Future of tolling: the priorities
    January 14, 2020
    In the final part of his investigation into the future of tolling technology, Josef Czako of Moving Forward Consulting asks what industry figures see as the priorities going forward…
  • Mileage based charging offers secure future for funding
    August 10, 2016
    HNTB’s Matthew Click sets out why a move to mileage-based pricing is inevitable. Infrastructure is the most neglected yet the most critical engine of our society, and our continued indifference could lead to a dystopian future. Our roads, bridges and highways have been largely passed by in the digital age—marginalised in an era when funding is limited and stewardship of physical assets has given way to our preoccupation with technological innovation and data—the stuff of the virtual realm.
  • Evolt wins first Go Ultra Low City contract in Scotland
    November 16, 2016
    Swarco Group’s Evolt eMobility brand has been awarded a contract estimated at US$2.2 million (£1.8 million) by Dundee City Council for the first phase of works to support three new charging ‘hubs’ in the city, along with an additional regional charging infrastructure. As one of the Go Ultra Low Cities, Dundee is creating three new charging hubs that will become dedicated areas for the charging of electric vehicles. Each hub will be equipped with Evolt’s well proven charging technology, including a combi
  • Panasonic gets connected on The Ray
    June 5, 2020
    A stretch of rural Georgia highway called The Ray is a particularly useful testbed for V2X technology. Panasonic’s Chris Armstrong tells Adam Hill what’s so special about it