The Fuso eCanter has been voted the winner of the 2022 Trucksales Innovation Award.
There is no doubt, the age of the electric truck is upon us. And the first example of a series-production battery-electric truck to land on our shores is the Fuso eCanter.
The Fuso eCanter has been quite a few years in the making. In fact, we first reported on the eCanter in 2016 and we drove our first example in Japan in 2017.
The eCanter was officially launched in Australia in April last year and big companies including Australia Post were keen to get their hands on examples for their fleets.
We drove a full production version in June and we were impressed by the performance, the quietness and the remarkable regenerative braking which can just about pull the vehicle up to a standstill without using the service brakes.
The eCanter is powered by six liquid-cooled lithium-ion batteries mounted in the frame that store 82.8kW/h of electricity (with 66kW/h of usable power) and feed a permanent magnet synchronous motor. Power output is rated at 135kW and 390Nm of torque can be delivered the moment the accelerator pedal is pressed.
However, what really impressed us was the fact that the eCanter gets all the safety and technology that’s in the diesel version of the Canter. This makes it one of the safest light trucks on the market and a very worthy winner of our Innovation Award for this year.
Fuso Truck and Bus Australia Director, Alexander Müller, said he was very pleased to accept the award. “We are very excited the Fuso eCanter has won the Trucksales Innovation Award,” he said.
“The all-electric Fuso eCanter, with its full suite of active safety features, is the perfect solution for high-density urban area deliveries, emitting zero local emissions and almost no noise. Our first Australian customers are thrilled with the eCanter and we are looking forward to delivering many more this year.”
Daimler Truck and Bus President and CEO, Daniel Whitehead, added: “Daimler Truck is investing massively in zero emissions technology for our Fuso, Freightliner and Mercedes-Benz brands and the first evidence of this is the Fuso eCanter, the first all-electric production truck to hit the road here in Australia.
“We are confident battery electric and hydrogen fuel cell technology will have a huge role to play in Australia’s freight future and will deliver major benefits to our customers and the community.”
All of us here at Trucksales would like to offer our congratulations to Fuso Truck and Bus Australia for winning the Trucksales Innovation Award for this year, and for bringing us the first of what is sure to be many production electric trucks.