News / CMA CGM tests battery-electric reefer regime for last-mile delivery

CMA CGM, alongside Thermo King and reefer leasing company SeaCube, is testing E-Coolpac batteries for powering reefer containers, aimed at electrifying much of last-mile reefer transport.

A 40ft reefer container generally requires around 7kW of power, though according to data from the the Move to –15ºC group, bringing the temperature up from -18ºC to -15ºC can reduce this power consumption by around 10%.

‘Clip-on’ or undermount diesel gensets are used during last-mile delivery, as a truck’s alternator cannot provide sufficient power to cool a reefer on its own. The E-Coolpac, an undermount battery pack, is designed to leverage battery power in this role, retrofitted to container chassis where a diesel genset would normally be mounted.

There, it can supply the reefer with between 35 and 105kWh of electrical power, after being charged up from the grid.

Critics of electrification highlight that energy from national grids is not inherently clean, with many countries using fossil-fired powerplants for a large proportion of their energy.

However, when compared with an on-site diesel genset, which can turn a supply of fuel into electrical power at an efficiency of around 30%, fossil power plants are capable of vastly greater generating efficiencies, thanks to their use of combined-cycle generation and waste-heat recovery, leading to efficiency ranges of between 50% and 60%.

Electrical energy for charging batteries can, therefore, be obtained at nearly double the efficiency of an on-site generator, leading to lower CO2 emissions even in the increasingly rare case of a national grid 100%-powered by fossil fuels. According to ICCT calculations, in the case of a battery-electric vehicle (BEV), lifecycle emissions are reduced by around two-thirds compared with petrol vehicles.

Claudio Zanframundo, president of Thermo King EMEA truck, trailer, bus and global marine, rail and air, said: “It [Coolpac] allows for lower emissions and adherence to local regulations when transporting refrigerated marine containers from ports to distribution centres, or those involved in daily reefer container transport.”

“The e-genset is a game-changer for our operations,” added Fabien Gresy-Aveline, CMA CGM VP,, containerfleet. “By transitioning from diesel, we are taking a significant step toward more sustainable refrigerated transport.”