A TRIAL with three new refrigerated trailers from TIP Group fitted with Thermo King’s Advancer AxlePower to deliver fully electric, low or zero-emission and autonomous trailer refrigeration is underway in the Netherlands.
Dutch supermarket chain Albert Heijn will trial the emission-free refrigerated trailers, which is a collaboration between Thermo King, axle maker BPW Bergische Achsen, and TIP Group.
The trailers feature Advancer A-500 Whisper-Pro, PIEK certified refrigeration units and BPW ePower axles. The AxlePower’s smart energy generating system delivers the power needed to run the trailer refrigeration unit by converting energy recovered by the trailer’s axle during the vehicle’s routine operation.
The system stores the energy generated while the vehicle is rolling or braking in a high voltage battery and reuses it to power the refrigeration unit – enabling fully electric, low or zero-emission and autonomous trailer refrigeration.
The battery pack, being charged while the trailer is moving also powers the unit autonomously while the trailer is stopped. Featuring smart power management that controls the engagement and disengagement of the generators, Advancer AxlePower also minimises the resistance on the tractor and provides the driver and fleet manager with real-time battery charge visibility to avoid ‘charge anxiety’.
Laurent Debias, product management and marketing leader at Thermo King in Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), said: “Combining our expertise with BPW and TIP Group we’re putting new technology in the hands of the transport companies that allow them to turn the energy typically lost by a trailer during transit into clean power for the refrigeration units.”
Thore Bakker, eneral manager for trailer solutions and mobility services at BPW Bergische Achsen, said ‘the solutions reduce emissions and noise , and ongoing operational costs’.
Rogier Laan, vice president sales and marketing at TIP Group, commented; “The battery only solution is already available and this trial, with the energy axle configuration, will take up to about 12 months. The first results are promising.”
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