BMW tests its electric truck on the open road

9 Jul 2015

Image via BMW

As part of a partnership between BMW and Dutch truck producer Terberg, a new electrically-powered truck will begin roaming the streets of Munich to test its capabilities as a future transporter.

The two companies will also be working with a German automotive service provider called Scherm, which along with its compatriots will develop the inner workings of the truck, which aims to make a regular trucker’s journey a lot cleaner.

According to CNet, the truck designed by the Dutch outfit will allow for heavy loads, with it weighing in at 40 tonnes, and will be recharged entirely off energy created using renewable energy.

When fully operational, the truck will have a range of approximately 100km on a full charge, which the designers claim will give it enough juice to last an entire day, and it will then take between three and four hours to be charged back up again.

BMW and Scherm estimate that the truck will save approximately 11.8m tonnes of CO2 from being released into the Earth’s atmosphere.

During its testing, the truck will make eight 2km trips between BMW’s facilities and Scherm’s to transport vehicles components over the course of the next few weeks.

Jürgen Maidl, head of logistics at BMW Group, said of the venture: “With this project we will gain valuable information on what will be possible with electric trucks in the future for city logistics.

“The BMW Group, along with our partner the Scherm Group, is once again bravely embarking on a new journey and delivering pioneering work.”

Colm Gorey was a senior journalist with Silicon Republic

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