Solucious, Colruyt Group's online food wholesaler, called on Gradius, a subsidiary of Equans, to equip five electric trucks with refrigeration systems. "With these trucks, the Colruyt Group is taking another step towards a carbon-free future," explains Kurt Heidbüchel of Gradius. "But it was also an important project for us. Ensuring a satisfactory range for such a vehicle is already a challenge, but if the battery also has to operate a cooling system, it becomes a real technical challenge.
“Sustainable enterprise” runs like a thread through all Colruyt Group's activities. The family business wants all goods transport - between distribution center, the suppliers and shops - to be zero-emission or therefore CO2-free by 2035. The recent investment in five electric trucks by Solucious, Colruyt Group's online food wholesaler, is part of that ambition. This is one of the first orders for all-electric refrigerated trucks on that scale in our country.
Gradius, supplier of total solutions
To provide the trucks with refrigeration, isolation and loading lifts, Solucious turned to Gradius, subsidiary of Equans, a total solutions provider in refrigerated road transport. "Specifically, we will equip each truck with isolation cabinets from IFAC and Frigoblock FK25i refrigeration units. It is the first time that Frigoblock FK25i will be used in electric trucks, and we also equip the trucks with loading lifts." Kurt Heidbüchel, responsible for the project at Gradius, explains.
"We also have a maintenance contract on these trucks that unburdens the customer, increases operational availability through preventive maintenance and allows the customer to budget everything in advance.”
Innovation and technical challenge
Kurt Heidbüchel sees the project as a prestige initiative for both Colruyt Group and Gradius. Despite the fact that an electric truck is more expensive than a standard truck and the range is more limited, Colruyt Group accepts these limitations and is firmly committed to a more sustainable future.
“Installing cooling on an electric truck was a challenging project for us because it is not a straightforward process. Since the battery has to power the cooling system, it becomes difficult to maintain the truck's range,” explains Kurt.
10 years and more than 100 trucks
Gradius is a long-standing partner of Solucious trucks with a total of about 100 trucks delivered so far. “We are currently equipping sixteen standard trucks simultaneously. We naturally hope that such reference projects for a large customer can be the trigger for other companies with the same approach to choose Gradius," Kurt concludes. By the end of spring all trucks will be handed over to Solucious and the silent and emission-free deliveries can start.
About Gradius
Gradius, in full Gradius Transport Cooling, provides total solutions in refrigerated road transport. It is also the exclusive distributor of Thermo King and Frigoblock cooling units and accessories for Belgium and Luxembourg and also supplies maintenance contracts and telematics products. Options include insulating vans as well as building larger trucks and loading lifts.
Gradius has seven branches in Belgium and Luxembourg and is a subsidiary of Equans.