The first regular production solar-powered electric trailer refrigeration unit (TRU) in Australia has hit the road with a real customer. Family-owned transport giant Wickham Freight Lines took delivery of the revolutionary reefer just this week.
Refrigerated trailers (reefers) are critical for hauling fresh food and flowers from the farm to your local market — the problem is that they pollute like crazy, powered by high sulfur, red-dye diesel-powered generators that run around the clock, even if the truck pulling them is fully electric. That constant diesel burn spews CO₂ and NOx into industrial and residential areas alike, and contributes significantly to fleets’ carbon emissions and noise pollution at a time when a number of municipalities are moving to regulate both.
It is, as they say, “a real problem,” but Sunswap Endurance cracked it with a solar-powered reefer that can keep food and pharmaceuticals cold in transit without burning a drop of diesel fuel – and now, they have real customers.
Sunny days ahead
One of Australia’s largest privately owned trucking companies, Wickham Freight Lines decided to purchase the Sunswap Endurance solar trailer units following an initial trial, running from Sydney to Brisbane and back this past summer on a route covering a total of 1,670 km (~1,040 miles) over more than 30 hours of driving.
After Wickham’s drivers finished the round trip with over 65% of the battery’s capacity still left, the purchase was a no-brainer.
“I put the Sunswap Endurance into the fleet and told the team to stretch it — treat it as a normal unit,” explains Graham Keogh, director at Wickham Freight Lines. “We were genuinely impressed. I’m a true believer. I love the technology and I’m not a true tech person whatsoever. You can just see that it’s a winner … the performance, reliability and operational savings were beyond what we expected. For a business like ours, running a large fleet across the east coast, with a heavy focus on refrigerated and cold chain freight, this technology makes real commercial sense.”
Sunswap Endurance first showed their new solar reefer unit at HVIA TruckShowX in Hunter Valley this May past. It’s compelling, insultingly simple technology and I, for one, hope this customer delivery is just the first of many. Let us know what you think of these guys, in the comments.
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