Newest overseas offering aimed at urban distribution
DAF Trucks has launched the LF Electric, a 19-tonne fully electric distribution truck for urban applications, to the European market.
The LF Electric delivers 250kW of nominal power (370kW peak) and a nominal torque of 1,200 Nm (3,700 Nm peak), and offers a range of up to 280km.
Power comes from a lithium iron phosphate battery pack with a gross energy content of 282 kWh (254 kWh effective).
“This offers the LF Electric a range of no less than 280 ultra-quiet and ‘zero emission’ kilometres more than enough for the needs of urban distribution transport operators,” DAF notes.
“These are batteries of the very latest generation, containing no cobalt or magnesium, in the interests of sustainability.
“Additionally, they are better packaged – resulting in a higher energy density per litre – and the chemistry of the battery ensures the highest thermal safety.”
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The LF Electric’s ‘combined charging system’ allows the truck to be charged through a regular electricity network.
Through slow-charging (400V AC, 22kW, three-phase), the battery pack can be charged from 20 per cent to 80 per cent in 6.5 hours, DAF claims, while a full charge (0 to 100 per cent) takes up to 12 hours.
If dedicated equipment is available, fast charging the batteries (650V DC, 150 kW) will take 60 minutes from 20 to 80 per cent or two hours for a full charge.
The LF Electric is initially available as a 19-tonne rigid, with a choice of 5.3m or 5.85m wheelbases and offers a body and payload allowance of 11,700kg,
“Just like every LF, it offers easy entry, excellent all-round visibility, great driver comfort and the tightest turning circle in the industry – and thus excellent manoeuvrability; it is the perfect truck of every driver in urban distribution,” DAF states.
The LF Electric, developed in close cooperation with American drivetrain and propulsion systems firm Dana, will enter production at Leyland Trucks in the UK in May.
DAF’s EV portfolio includes the CF Electric, primarily for supermarket distribution and inter-urban transport, and the 6×2 CF Electric rigid with steered rear axle, primarily for waste collection.
“The CF Electric trucks have already clocked up several hundreds of thousands of kilometres with high profile European customers, building DAF’s experience with electric driveline technology,” DAF notes.