Thermo King Launches its Li-ion Battery for All-Electric and Sustainable Refrigerated Transport

Designed and manufactured by Thermo King, the new Li-ion battery enables hold over refrigeration capacity, fuel savings and unbroken cold chain during inner city deliveries.

Thermo King®, a leader in transport temperature control solutions and a brand of Trane Technologies, announced today the launch of its new battery pack designed specifically for the E-200 fully-electric refrigeration units. Manufactured by Thermo King, the new lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery is available in 1.8kWh and 3.6KWh versions.  Combined with the E-200 units, the battery pack creates a zero emissions transport refrigeration solution that ensures an unbroken cold chain even while the driver stops for delivery, break or needs to turn off the vehicle for longer.

“Product innovation, sustainability, reliability, increased uptime, total cost of ownership, optimal efficiency and customer expectations have always been the concepts that drive us,” said Eneko Fernandez, product management leader at Thermo King. “Electrification is a trend that’s set to continue with the refinement of units that don’t use a diesel engine to drive the compressor, and instead use a battery-based system. At Thermo King, we want to challenge what is possible in our industry, and today we are taking a step forward. We developed our own Li-ion battery pack to fully integrate it with the unit’s system and allow our customers to maximise the benefits of its smart and sustainable power management.”

The Thermo King battery pack was designed to seamlessly work with the E-200 fully electric, zero-emissions refrigeration units for medium sized vans and trucks – the latest addition to Thermo King’s growing portfolio of non-diesel solutions. Unlike typical small truck solutions designed for diesel combustion engines, the E-200 delivers constant capacity in up to two cooling zones, independently from the vehicles’ engines, and can work with both electric and engine-powered vehicles. The Thermo King battery works with the E-200 units’ patented power management, which contributes to lower energy consumption, increased vehicle autonomy and higher efficiency and reliability.

The battery combined with the E-200 unit ensures the hold-over capacity, an environmentally sustainable way to power the unit during stops for deliveries or breaks. This is particularly important during home delivery and other city distribution operations, with frequent deliveries and door openings, short driving distances and repeated stops in traffic. It gives the fleet managers the peace of mind that the transported goods are cooled at all times and there are no temperature deviations in the compartment. The solution is also compatible with vehicle’s start-stop features contributing to additional fuel savings.

The key differentiators of the Thermo King battery:

• One single control system and integration with Thermo King telematics system
• One single charging plug and battery charger physically integrated in the refrigeration condenser for simple, quicker and cleaner installation on the driver’s cabin side.
• Slim design for easy installation under passenger seat in most vehicle models
• Simultaneous cooling and battery charge on stand-by
• Full refrigeration capacity when vehicle is on idle
• Fully compliant with the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) R100 safety requirements in transport applications and UNECE R10 certified for electromagnetic compatibility with vehicles.

The Thermo King E-200 and battery pack product developments align with Trane Technologies 2030 sustainability aspirations, and the commitment to reduce customers’ carbon emissions by one gigaton – equivalent to the annual emissions of Italy, France and the United Kingdom combined.