When it comes to electric trucking, Western Australian transport operator Centurion is leading the way.
Initially receiving funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) in 2023, as of late July, it’s off-grid battery electric vehicle project is now fully operational.
The major milestone in local sustainable freight transport has seen Centurion commission two of Australia’s first fully off-grid, 100 per cent renewable energy, battery electric truck projects.
Centurion’s Perth Airport depot operates two charging sites, named North and South. The North charging site was commissioned back in February and the South charging site is now live as of July, adding a further 10 Mercedes-Benz eActros 300 battery electric trucks to service the Perth metropolitan area.
This addition brings the Hazelmere fleet to 30 electric trucks, all fuelled by onsite green energy supply. South site energy infrastructure includes 2.2MW of rooftop solar, 3.44MWh of battery storage, 75kW and 150kW chargers, and a back-up generator operating on HVO.
The total project specifications include 30 eActros 300 battery electric trucks, including 25 rigid trucks and five prime movers, 4.4MW of rooftop solar, 10.3MWh of battery storage and 15 dual-port slow and fast chargers.
On top of this, fully off-grid charging infrastructure and back-up generation using hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) is also at the site.
“The project is now fully operational, and it marks a significant milestone in progressing our decarbonisation journey,” Centurion CEO Justin Cardaci says.
“Completing this important infrastructure milestone and having the full electric truck fleet operational is a great outcome for Centurion. It shows that with the right partnerships and investment, sustainable freight solutions are achievable today.
“Centurion actively seeks to deploy technology where its ready to displace the diesel transport equivalent and the ARENA funding certainly helps support the economics of this project.
“We’re not only reducing emissions but also providing electric trucks fuelled by green energy that can deliver a high-quality reliable service for our customers.”
The $36 million project was delivered in partnership with Daimler Truck, Cape Dunstans, Switch Batteries and bp Australia, and made possible through $15.8 million in funding from ARENA.
Centurion says this project demonstrates how industry collaboration, renewable energy and innovation can drive meaningful change in Australia’s transport and logistics sector, reducing emissions while maintaining operational performance.
The International Truck of the Year is presented to a truck launched in the previous 12 months that has made the largest contribution to road transport efficiency.
It was just the second time an electric truck was named the winner of the award.
In addition to its trio of lithium-ion batteries and reduced noise capacity, the eActros also features two liquid-cooled motors integrated into the driver axle.
It has 536hp (400kW) peak power output and 443hp (330kW) continuous output.
A five-stage recuperation braking system works like an engine brake to both spare the service brakes and recoup electricity, which is fed back into the batteries.
It also comes with Lane-Keeping Assist, Attention Assist and Stability Control Assist, and tyre pressure monitoring, with the ability to use front and side radars – and a front camera – to automatically brake for pedestrians and other vehicles if the driver is distracted.
Centurion says it has been thrilled with the performance of the trucks so far, and have been able to get great insight as to how they work in conjunction with the off-grid charging.
“Feedback in terms of driver performance has been fantastic,” Justin says.
“The Daimler Portal does have the ability to give us some of the insights about driver behaviour and the way they’re performing,” Hamish adds.
“It hasn’t been a major focus of ours just yet, as we’ve mainly wanted to get the trucks out there and make sure that the energy infrastructure is live and operating and giving us the security of energy that we need.
“We want to get these trucks used by our various customers and learn the various requirements for them in the Perth metro area. Now that everything’s working, that’s the next step.
“How the driver behaviour piece works with charging optimisation is something we’ve continued to think about. We might find out that a battery isn’t performing the way it should be, or one particular driver is always coming back with a lot less charge.
“We’ve also got the knowledge sharing agreement with ARENA to make sure we’re learning these lessons, so having the data management systems in place is an important and exciting part of the project.”
Centurion is not only looking ahead at how it can change its fleet of trucks, but also the evolution of its drivers too.
They have developed a key partnership with an inclusive employment pathway to bring people who may struggle with employment into the world of transport.
“We really deliberately went out and looked for a different group of drivers. It’s another area that’s been exciting for us,” Justin says.
Story with thanks to Power Torque Magazine