Futuricum Electric Truck: 1099km on a Single Charge
Image prepared by OROVEL based on truck, charger and Batteries from Futuricum
Futuricum set up a new record performing 1099 km with their electric 19t etruck on a single charge
➡️ Futuricum? Several manufacturers are currently busy developing electric trucks. On the one hand, we find the big players such as Daimler, Scania, etc. and aside of the traditional OEMs, there is a 2nd group consisting of small developers such as Futuricum, Framo, etc. Futuricum is a Swiss 🇨🇭company in Electromobility developing electric commercial vehicles including e-trucks (up to 44 tons), rapid chargers and large batteries. Futuricum belongs to the Swiss company Designwerk. Designwerk is generally involved in electro mobility and focused on developing, prototyping and producing emobility such as large Batteries (that they develop through Batteriewerk). It is worth noticing that VOLVO Truck has signed (April 2021) an agreement to acquire 60% of Designwerk Technologies AG.
➡️ The Futuricum ELECTRIC FH is a 19-tonne 100% electric truck based on a VOLVO FH. The e-truck set up a record of 1,099 kilometres in 23 hours using a single electric charge (no intermediate charging) officially measured by the Guinness World Records. The test was performed on the Continental’s test track ‘Contidrom’ near Hanover (the truck is equipped with Continental Tyres). 50-km/h average speed can be seen as a “realistic figure” in mixed urban/rural traffic in realistic conditions (no chassis dyno, external temperature of about 14 degrees, wind with gusts of up to 40 km/h, etc.). Nevertheless, the record was set-up with no realistic payload!! The truck carried a swap body but without any load (the unladen weight = 15.5 tonnes in this configuration). Please note that the Batteries were not completely empty at the end of the test to preserve the health of the Battery.
Futuricum ELECTRIC FH Commercial Vehicle (image credit: Futuricum)
➡️ Technically, the e-truck is 500 kW power and uses a 680 kWh Battery. The gross energy content of the Battery is limited to 578 kWh usable for SOC/SOH reasons. The complete Battery consists in 4 blocks (4 x 170 kWh) arranged on the side of the truck as shown on the figure above.
➡️ Each pack contains a BMS, a cooling system (water-glycol), its own safety fuse for potential disconnection. Prismatic cells are used and the cells are NMC Chemistry. The modules are purchased (supply contract since 2019) from BMW (BMW i3 battery modules) as shown on the photo below. Battery is given for about 164 Wh/kg meaning that the full Battery pack weighs about 4.2 tons (4600 kg according to Futuricum specs). Futuricum Battery can be 400V or 800V and can be composed of 8 up to 96 modules
Detail on the Futuricum Truck showing the BMW parternership
Batteries (170 kWh unit)
➡️ The Batteries can be charged with 22 or 44 kW (29 and 14.5 hours, respectively). The Futuricum truck supports charging via CCS-Combo2 plug. With 150 kW charger, the Batteries are recharged in “only” 3 hours (1.3 hours with 350 kW)
➡️ The energy consumption during test was measured at 52 kWh / 100 km but keep in mind that this was simplified conditions and NO PAYLOAD. In real driving conditions + real payload, consumption will sit somewhere around 150 kWh / 100 km
➡️ Let’s estimate the equivalent CO2 emissions. If you are in Germany, producing electricity on a cost of 400 gCO2/kWh, this means 600 gCO2/km. If you are in France (60 gCO2/kWh), this means 90 gCO2/km. For comparison, a Diesel 19tonne truck uses about 20L/100km which emits about 400 gCO2/km. As usual, clean electricity is key to ensure clean eMobility.
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