Carrier All-Electric Refrigerated Tech Piloted on Medium-Duty Trucks

Carrier's zero-emissions refrigeration is being piloted on medium-duty trucks in two recently announced projects. Performance Food Group Company, Navistar, Great Dane, and Carrier Transicold have collaborated to launch a commercial evaluation program using all-electric refrigeration technology on a battery-electric truck for sustainable distribution of refrigerated and frozen food.

PFG’s solution features Carrier Transicold’s Supra eCool electric truck refrigeration unit, an International eMV Series battery-electric truck with a factory-installed ePower electrical system, and a 22-foot Alpine S-Series insulated body by Great Dane. The truck will serve PFG operations in California, supporting the food service distributor’s sustainability initiatives as a step toward compliance with new regulations requiring the adoption of zero-direct-emission truck refrigeration technologies in the state.

Refrigerated Technology

“The use of direct-emissions-free transportation and refrigeration technologies by these collaborators offers tremendous potential in helping us to achieve key sustainability goals and metrics,” said Jeff Williamson, PFG senior vice president of operations.

Control interface commonalities between the Supra eCool unit and the traditional Supra diesel units in the fleet will help its drivers transition to all-electric refrigeration, PFG reported.

“The collaboration among International, Great Dane, and Carrier Transicold demonstrates successful teamwork and technology integration to meet the performance and sustainability needs of PFG,” said Debbie Shust, vice president of medium duty international truck business, Navistar.

Weight Reduction

Tim Miller, director of truck bodies for Great Dane, said his company reduced truck body weight and increased thermal efficiency while minimizing changes to the overall body design to support this project.

“The benefits of electric transport refrigeration technologies go beyond sustainability, as they can also provide life-cycle cost benefits for progressive fleets, such as PFG’s,” said Alice DeBiasio, vice president and general manager, truck trailer Americas and digital solutions, Carrier.

Pulsor eCool

Motiv Power Systems is also piloting with Carrier Transicold on a fully integrated zero-emissions refrigerated truck. This truck features Carrier Transicold’s Pulsor eCool unit, one of Carrier’s newest refrigeration solutions for all-electric vehicles.

“The Pulsor eCool unit is designed to use a light- or medium-duty electric vehicle’s battery system without requiring its own power pack,” said Scott Parker, product manager, trailer products, Carrier Transicold. “It’s an ideal fit for companies that are considering battery-powered vehicles to deliver refrigerated products in urban areas.”

Motiv will deploy its refrigerated truck in the U.S. as part of a summer pilot program.