K Group tests full-electric van refrigeration for supermarket deliveries in Finland 22 April 2021

The K Group has successfully tested the electric E-200 refrigeration unit paired with the electric-powered MAN eTGE van in its food delivery operations in Finland. K Group is the third biggest retail operator in Northern Europe, with over 1,500 grocery stores in Finland under the Kesko Food brands.

K Group has been piloting the use of fully electric trucks and vans as part of their efforts to reduce emissions and achieve carbon neutrality by 2025. For their last mile grocery delivery operations they chose the new electric-powered MAN eTGE and equipped it with the E-200 multi-temperature refrigeration unit from Thermo King.

The E-200 units are inverter-driven, unlike typical direct-drive solutions designed for diesel combustion engines, says Thermo-King. That means they offer constant capacity and better compatibility with electric-powered vehicles.

“When preparing the test van for the K Group we were looking at various options, but Thermo King and [dealer] VTA Tekniikka were the only ones that could offer the most complete solution,” said Timo Puustinen, product manager at MAN Finland.

“The Thermo King E-200 unit can work without separate battery packs, which lowers the costs and increases overall usability. It allows K Group to benefit from maximum load capacity of the vehicle. During the tests, the range of the vehicle remained in line with our requirements and proved that the eTGE and E-200 are a very good combination.”

Author
Transport Engineer

Related Companies
Thermo-King (Europe)

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