OREANDA-NEWS. January 16, 2014. ThyssenKrupp Materials International attaches great importance to environmental protection and sustainability. To minimize oil consumption in the future ThyssenKrupp Materials France is currently testing the use of new hybrid trucks in Paris in a collaboration with Renault Trucks and haulage group Norbert Dentressangle.

The 16-ton state-of-the-art Melodys III has a range of 60 kilometers in electric mode and a total range of over 400 kilometers. The tests have been running since June 2013 and are due to be completed in January 2014.

The “rechargeable production hybrid drive” combines a pure electric mode with a hybrid drive system to provide a total range of several hundred kilometers. It allows the truck to carry out deliveries both in zero emission zones, usually in the city center, and in industrial zones on the outskirts of the city, all in a single trip. The vehicle is equipped with a PVI electric drive with 103 kW/400 V electric motor, lithium-ion batteries with a total capacity of 85 kWh, a DXi 5 diesel engine and a 70 kW generator. The batteries can be recharged in four hours from a three-phase power supply at 380 volts and 64 amps.

The truck carries three to seven meter long steel girders, pallets containing smaller parts, as well as one to three meter long steel plates. “With 500 deliveries a day, transport is one of the central activities in our process chain and our second-biggest cost factor. For us the pilot project is an opportunity to explore whether the use of hybrid trucks is a viable alternative for the future,” says Serge Weber, President of ThyssenKrupp Materials France S.A.S.