Frigoblock, one of the leading manufacturers of transport refrigeration units in Europe and brand of Thermo King, announced that Simon Loos, leading logistics services provider in the Netherlands, expanded its fully electric fleet with seven new Mercedes-Benz eActros trucks refrigerated with Frigoblock FK25i systems. The battery-electric 27-tonne rigid trucks will be used for emission-free urban deliveries by large supermarket chains and temperature-controlled food distribution chains in the Netherlands.
“It’s an important achievement for us to see Frigoblock technology enabling our customers like Simon Loos to lead the way in electrifying and minimising the environmental impact of transport operations,” said Klaas Kliffen senior account manager and brand manager Frigoblock at Thermo King Transportkoeling BV. ”We have worked long and hard to make it happen and are looking forward to continue helping our customers to make their fleets more sustainable.”
The project follows successful tests of the prototype truck operated by Simon Loos since 2021 and supplying supermarket stores with dry goods and fresh, temperature-controlled food.
“We believe in the concept of electric transport. The experiences from the field test convinced us that this is the way to go, and we want to lead the way in electrification of logistics services,” said Wim Roks, fleet manager at Simon Loos. “During the intensive trials, the truck was running seven days a week, from 7am to 11pm every day. The Frigoblock refrigeration proved to work seamlessly with the truck and efficiently maintained the set temperatures. The truck’s battery offers capacity to cover distances of more than 250 kilometres under all weather conditions, while also powering the Frigoblock system. We’re very happy with the solution, which makes quiet, zero-emission deliveries the reality our customers are looking for.”
The FK25i units deliver high performance and capacity meeting the challenging requirements of multi-temperature food distribution applications. The Frigoblock refrigerated eActros is a result of close collaboration between Frigoblock and Daimler Trucks to offer a sustainable refrigeration technology that can seamlessly work with the new electric Mercedes-Benz truck.
Using integrated inverter technology, electric Frigoblock FK25i refrigeration units are designed to work directly with the battery-powered vehicles, minimising the number of energy-consuming components. This allows for most optimal use the vehicles’ battery capacity and contributes to maximising the truck’s range. To meet the electrical requirements of the new eActros, Frigoblock designed a new CAN-Bus-Gateway system for direct communication between the truck and the cooling system. The intelligent control efficiently manages the energy demand of the unit using only the minimal energy needed to maintain the set-point temperature.
“We have been using the FK25i units across our fleet for years, benefiting also from the meticulous support from Frigoblock and its service partner Groot RMO” concluded Wim Roks. “We practically haven’t ever had any problems with the units’ performance. That’s why we were very pleased to see Frigoblock technology is now used to cool the new serially produced eActros trucks. It has been a win-win situation for us.”