What's believed to be the longest electric truck combination to go on the road in New Zealand has gone to work in Auckland for a company specialising in hiring, selling, servicing, storing and shuttling shipping containers.
ContainerCo's 4x2 Isuzu FSR, which has a battery electric powertrain built by Australian company SEA Electric, tows a two-axle trailer – the combination able to cart three empty 20-foot containers.
The 22-metre combination is powered by a 136kWh battery pack and a SEA-Drive motor producing 250kW maximum and 150kW continuous power…and 2500Nm of peak torque, with 1230Nm continuous. 
It's used to shuttle-run empty containers between Auckland's port, rail facilities and ContainerCo depots.
The unit was commissioned by ContainerCo with funding support from the Energy Efficiency Conservation Authority (EECA), and company MD Ken Harris says that it marks an important first step in reducing air and noise emissions.
"We operate our container hire, sales and services businesses from sites right around the country and the ability to silently and cleanly move containers to and from rail and ports in urban environments is a big step forward."
Harris says that the success of this unit, which can operate for up to 15 hours before recharging, will "certainly see us end up with something like 15 of them"…..over the next five years.
Extra units could be put to work in on-wharf container movements – the high torque of the electric trucks making the towing of multiple trailers a possibility. 
Says Harris: "We're excited to welcome the first electric truck to our fleet, in partnership with EECA. It's the first step of an ambitious longterm programme to prove the viability and desirability of transforming our fleet of handling and transport equipment to EVs.
"ContainerCo operates facilities that handle hundreds of thousands of shipping containers around the country and with innovation we can electrify a wide range of our vehicles, including forklifts, cranes and support vehicles. 
"We expect this new truck to demonstrate the opportunity to reduce environmental impacts and improve the efficiency."
ContainerCo hires and sells shipping containers throughout NZ and operates large parks for empty containers around key ports.  
Moving those containers is a task that increases year on year as trade grows, Harris says, and that transport is often within urban environments… and over short distances.
That makes the work ideally suited to electric trucks – given that they are silent, have zero emissions, don't travel far in a day and brake frequently….when the braking energy can be used to recharge their batteries.
The Isuzu has a theoretical range of 350kms, but actual use in Auckland indicates that 200kms or less is more accurate.
Its silent operation should support the company's ambition to operate over longer hours and open up new, more efficient routes in urban areas.