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

  • Siemens to build eHighway in Germany
    August 11, 2017
    Siemens has been commissioned by the German state of Hesse to build an overhead contact line for electrified freight transport on a ten kilometre stretch of autobahn to supply electricity for the electric drive of a hybrid truck. Siemens will install its eHighway on the A5 federal autobahn between the Zeppelinheim/Cargo City Süd interchange at the Frankfurt Airport and the Darmstadt/Weiterstadt interchange, the first time the eHighway has been tested on a public highway in Germany. Siemens will be responsib
  • London trials new Ford plug-in hybrid vans
    January 23, 2017
    Automaker Ford is launching a multi-million pound project designed to help improve air quality in London, as it accelerates its electrification plans with 13 new global electrified vehicles scheduled for introduction in the next five years. The project, supported by Transport for London, features a 12-month trial of 20 new plug-in hybrid (PHEV) Transit Custom vans that are said to reduce local emissions by running solely on electric power for the majority of city trips such as deliveries or maintenance w
  • Vivacity demos AI junction control
    March 18, 2021
    How will AI-controlled junctions help smooth the journeys of drivers – and cyclists - in urban areas? Alan Dron looks at an expanding scheme in Manchester, UK, which aims to find out
  • Mazda first of its kind regenerative braking system developed
    March 26, 2012
    Mazda Motor Corporation has developed a regenerative braking system for passenger cars capable of improving fuel economy by approximately 10 per cent. The new i-ELoop (intelligent energy loop) system, claimed to be the first of its kind in the world to use a capacitor, will begin to appear in Mazda vehicles from 2012.