Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC) has just announced the start of series production of the new battery-electric eCanter at its subsidiary plant in Tramagal, Portugal. Introduced back in 2017 as Daimler Truck's inaugural electric light-duty truck in small-scale production, the Canter’s electric variant has made a significant impact in the industry. In its lifetime, over 550 units of this truck have been delivered to customers worldwide. Operating in various regions, including Europe, the United States, Australia, and New Zealand, Fuso proudly reports that the eCanter has successfully covered a combined distance of over eight million kilometers, providing environmentally friendly urban transportation with zero local emissions.
Moving forward a few years, in September 2022, MFTBC introduced the completely revamped eCanter, showcasing a creatively redesigned and more streamlined drivetrain configuration. This update enabled MFTBC to provide a wider selection of chassis, body types, and driving ranges for customers. For European customers alone, there will be a total of 42 variants to choose from, with over 100 options available worldwide.
European buyers will have the opportunity to select from six different wheelbases when purchasing the vehicle, along with various gross vehicle weights ranging from 4,250 to 8,550 kg. Models with gross vehicle weights of 3,856 and 5,443 kg will be equipped with 110 kW motors, while those weighing 6,795 and 7,756 kg will feature 129 kW motors. The powertrain puts out an impressive 430 Nm of torque, and the maximum speed of the vehicle has been set at 89 km/h.
“We at Daimler Truck are fully committed to the Paris Climate Agreement and making sustainable transport a success, which is why we aim to offer only CO2-neutral vehicles in our core global markets by 2039. With this, we are taking an important step closer to CO2-neutral transportation.”
The battery range of the eCanter can be customized by selecting one of three available battery packs. The S variant provides a 41 kWh capacity, enabling a range of 70 km. Doubling that range, the M variant is equipped with an 83 kWh battery pack. At the top is the L variant, offering an impressive 124 kWh capacity, resulting in a range of 200 km. To put it into perspective, the initial eCanters were only available with an 81 kWh battery pack and a maximum range of up to 100 km.
Here in the Philippines, there are not that many options available in terms of electric light-duty trucks. Optimistically, we would like to see more electric trucks on our roads as commercial vehicles are one of the major contributors to pollution. However, considering our thinly spread charging infrastructure and current demand for electric trucks, it might be some time before EV trucks like the eCanter become available for us in the Philippines.
