Thermo King to invest $100 million in all-electric portfolio
Thermo King will invest more than $100 million over the next three years to deliver a fully electric product in every segment of the cold chain by 2023, the Trane Technologies brand reports.
The company’s all-electric portfolio, branded “evolve,” will include electric refrigeration solutions for truck, trailer, rail, air and marine transport in the North America, Latin America and Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) regions. The evolve portfolio is designed to align with customers’ goals to transition to more sustainable solutions for their fleets, and will help advance Trane Technologies’ 2030 Sustainability Commitments, including its Gigaton Challenge to reduce customer greenhouse gas emissions by 1 billion metric tons.
As new products are added to the evolve portfolio, electric solutions will be available in every cold chain segment in EMEA by 2023, and in the Americas by 2025.
“Bold solutions for a more sustainable world are core to our strategy. We continue to innovate to help reduce the carbon footprint of customer operations,” said Paul Camuti, chief technology and sustainability officer for Trane Technologies. “The evolve portfolio builds on our ongoing efforts to help customers reduce environmental impact and meet their sustainability goals as they transition fleets and stay ahead of future regulation.”
Thermo King already offers fully electric products such as the E-200 for middle and last-mile delivery, and the TE-18 and Athenia all-electric HVAC units for public bus transit. Launched in EMEA in 2020, the Advancer trailer unit is 30% more fuel efficient and can operate on a variety of power sources such as shore power, hybrid, holdover battery and axle generator, according to the company. In the Americas region, the enhanced electric architecture on the connected Precedent trailer unit leverages shore power and will undergo field trials with customers later this year. These innovations will pave the way for all-electric zero-emission trailer refrigeration units in both regions.
“Our expertise in electrification has positioned Thermo King as a trusted partner to respected industry leaders such as Isuzu, Tesco, Mercedes-Benz and technology companies such as ELMS, Gatik and BPW who continue to find new ways to innovate the cold chain,” said Karin De Bondt, president for Thermo King Americas. “Through these strategic partnerships we are able to further our advancements of sustainable power solutions and electrified product offerings that meet customer, regulatory and environmental requirements in our industry and our world.”
