Thermo King, a leader in transport temperature control solutions and a brand of Trane Technologies, announced that the Fraikin Group, expanded its rental fleet with electric-powered MAN eTGE vans refrigerated with Thermo King E-200 units. Fraikin, a leading European commercial vehicle rental and transport solutions company with the largest multi-brand and multi-functional vehicle fleet, is the first in Belgium to operate the Thermo King-refrigerated electric MAN e-TGE van.
Responding to the increasing demand, Fraikin wanted to give their customers the opportunity to experience the zero-emission, electric refrigerated transport, and test how the latest innovations can improve their everyday operations. To collaborate on the project and find the most suitable refrigeration solution for the electric MAN e-TGE van, Fraikin reached out to Thermo King and Gradius – Thermo King’s authorized dealer with locations in Belgium and Luxembourg.
“We have a long-lasting relationship with Thermo King and Gradius, and we knew we could count on their support and expertise in selecting the best refrigeration technology for an electric-powered delivery vehicle,” said Cyriel Vrijders, Commercial director Benelux at Fraikin. “We have been carefully following the latest technology innovations and were confident that collaborating together we would be able to satisfy our customer’s increasing interest in zero-emission, electric refrigerated transport.”
“Our expertise in electrification has positioned Thermo King as a trusted partner. Projects like this with Fraikin give us pride that our innovations help advance sustainable transport and reduce the carbon footprint of customer operations,” said Samer Hawat, area sales and service manager Benelux at Thermo King. “Each of the parties involved in this project, from Fraikin to Gradius and MAN have brought their competences together through great teamwork. That made this new environmentally friendly solution possible and available to transport operators across Belgium.”
Fraikin’s electric-powered MAN e-TGE van was fitted with Thermo King E-200 refrigeration unit. The E-200, being inverter driven, unlike typical direct drive solutions designed for diesel combustion engines, delivers constant capacity and can seamlessly work with electric-powered vehicles. The unit’s patented power management contributes to lower energy consumption, increased vehicle autonomy and higher efficiency and reliability. To ensure hold-over capacity and that the electric vehicle could operate fresh and frozen deliveries 8 hours per day, the van was fitted with additional 11 kW battery pack.
“Sustainability is very important for Fraikin. We have felt a certain responsibility to introduce the vehicle to our short-term rental fleet to give more clients the possibility to experience and convince themselves to the new technology,” said Cyriel Vrijders. “Since the onset of the project, many major operators of fresh and frozen deliveries had the chance to evaluate how that solution fits their type of operations – the distances they cover, the number of door openings per day etc. Today apart from the demo vehicle we already have a number of long-term contracts with different customers that benefit from this zero-emission solution across Belgium.”
“We’re happy to have had the chance to participate in the project. We were closely following the design of this completely new vehicle to make sure that the technology works seamlessly together and meets the customers’ requirements and standards,” said Pierre Firquet, Regional Account Manager at Gradius. “Our personal approach, intensive product knowledge and technical know-how, has allowed us to deliver the highest quality support to our partners.”