Terberg electric truck achieves higher productivity with Allison fully automatic transmission

"The electric truck has proven itself in city traffic and the just-in-time delivery from BMW works smoothly," explains Ulf Frenzel, Fleet Manager at the Scherm Group. "The Allison gearbox makes it possible to call up the power of the electric motor in a targeted manner. This makes the e-truck easy to maneuver and completely uncomplicated to drive."

The all-electric terminal tractor unit is equipped with a liquid-cooled 3-phase synchronous motor (614 V) with a maximum output of 138 kW (188 hp) and an Allison 3000 series fully automatic transmission. The Allison transmission plays a crucial role in driving the electric truck: The truck has to start with a gross combination weight of up to 65 tons and reach its maximum speed as quickly as possible in order to meet the delivery schedule. This is supported by the torque converter of the Allison fully automatic transmission, which multiplies the engine torque when starting and accelerating.

In addition, the Allison transmission avoids interruptions in tractive force, so that the same performance can be achieved with the relatively small engine installed as with a larger and more expensive engine. And since the truck's hydraulic pump is driven by the transmission's power take-off, no additional electric unit is required.

"The Allison fully automatic transmission has proven itself through its reliability and convenient handling in daily use," adds Frenzel. "We also have shorter maintenance times than with a conventional diesel vehicle and are therefore much more efficient on the road."

The electric 65-tonne truck shuttles between the Scherm Group's logistics center and the BMW plant in Munich, around 3 kilometers away, eight times a day in two shifts, five days a week. Since its commissioning in 2015, the vehicle has already completed over 3,000 trips and covered almost 17,000 km. This has already saved over 8,000 liters of diesel over the last two years, which corresponds to 22 tons of CO2.

"We are very satisfied with the e-truck," explains Frenzel. "We wanted to prove that electromobility also works in freight transport, and we have succeeded."

Following Scherm's example, Elflein Spedition und Transport GmbH has been using a vehicle of the same model with an Allison transmission for its customer BMW Group's Leipzig plant since November 2016. Thanks to a higher annual mileage than the vehicle in Munich, savings of around 21 tons of CO2 per year are possible in Leipzig.

Liquid-cooled Siemens 3-phase synchronous motorPower / torque 138 kW (188 hp), peak torque of 720 NmTransmission Allison fully automatic transmission Series 3000Batteries Drive battery capacity: 112/169 kWhBattery type: Lithium Ion Magnesium Phosphate (LFMP)Wheelbase 3,400 mmUnladen weight 10,000 kgGross train weight 65,000 kgTop speed 45 km/h, limited to 40 km/h