“You’ve spent 25 years revving the shit out of an old ACCO and then they put you in this! You’d go friggin mad wouldn’t you? It’d just be too quiet.”
So commented a fellow journalist at Mt Cotton some 35 kilometres southeast of Brisbane and home to the test track now owned by the RACQ – which is a very good thing because they have improved the facility out of sight since my last visit here.
Three of us have been invited by Daimler Trucks to play with a range of their product at their aptly named, ‘The Drive Series’.
The program is part of Daimler Truck’s holistic approach to displaying their entire range, focusing on three key areas: Operational Confidence, where the latest safety innovations and ‘connected’ technologies are explored.
Cost of Ownership with practical insights into fuel efficiency, servicing intervals and warranty, along with tailored finance and insurance solutions. And of course, the driver experience which is the reason we writers are here.
We have in fact arrived early to drive the “it’s not an ACCO” truck before dealers, punters and other interested parties arrive on this, the last day of the week-long event.
While they get to play with most of the Daimler product, we are the only three invited to hop behind the wheel of this particular truck. Oh, the perks of truck journalism.
The mention of ACCO should have given you a clue but if you haven’t guessed what type of truck my journo mate was referring to, it was a garbage truck of the compactor type (in fairness it could also have been an Agitator). And it was electric, hence the comment.
This was just one of 38 Mercedes-Benz, Freightliner and Fuso trucks the company had transported to the centre for all and sundry to try out. There were big ones, medium ones and small ones to suit every requirement. There was fossil fuelled as well as electric but we’ll go with the volts in this piece as there’s too much to cover in one article.
The garbo truck we’re in is a Mercedes-Benz eEconic with the super-efficient 2-speed eAxle and is possibly the most fitting application for electric power in any truck due to the constant stopping and starting – the more you stop the more power you regenerate back into the batteries.
Firstly the truck will ‘kneel down’ much like buses to allow easy entry. One step up into the cab and another to get into the driver’s seat which, also like a bus is set low in the cab.
Beside this is room for the three lackeys who have to get out and empty the garbage bins. The cabin is WIDE with vista views all around so you’re not going to miss seeing a little kid or their dog run out onto the road. Of course, if they do there’s all the usual Mercedes-Benz safety features to protect them.
The windscreen is huge and because you sit low you’d never reach a sun visor so M-B has an electrically (of course) operated full width blind that drops down at the touch of a button.
This is a truck that most of you will never get to drive but for the lucky few whose councils or companies place an order you’re going to love going ‘friggin mad’.
The silence is seriously golden, the vehicle with its low centre of gravity goes around the hairpin bends at Mt Cotton with ease and you’re going to win every traffic light drag race with 100 per cent torque available from standstill.
Next up, I’m in a Fuso eCanter e918, a wide-body version with a124kW/3 battery pack. No range anxiety here. Fuso was the first OEM electric truck in this country and again features Daimler’s eAxle where the electric motor and dif are housed in the one unit, freeing up space further forward for batteries.
In the e918 there is 129kW (175hp) and 430Nm of torque at peak which is more than enough for the truck to get up and boogie away from a standstill.
The gearbox is of the Single Reduction variety, meaning its 1 speed – all this truck with that torque available from standstill will ever need.
This is not my first rodeo in an eCanter but I’m always glad to get behind the wheel of these well sorted trucks. The dash is fully electronic and is complimented with a large multimedia screen front and centre and ‘jet exhaust’ styled air vents at each end.
Three large dials below the media screen operate the aircon – Fuso having resisted the temptation (thank goodness) to incorporate them into the touch screen as so many car manufacturers have.
The drive selector sits within fingertip reach of the steering wheel and has the retardation function built into it.
Flick the lever back and you’re feeding juice back into the batteries – and like the eEconic you are only using the brakes for the last metre or two to come to a standstill.
In fact, on our drive around the circuit which contains a number of sharp bends and steep rises and drops, there is next to no need to use the brakes at all.
The steering is great, the driver’s seat comfortable and, like the eEconic before it, the silence is deafening. The truck rides over humps and bumps, barely noticing they’re there.
Importantly, this type of truck (I’m in a tautliner here) is going to run you around town all day without fear of running out of juice.
I can say that with confidence as I’ve managed to do so in other eCanters and in fact in other brands with considerably lower kW’s available. Then you simply park up at night, plug it in and you’re ready to go again the next day.
Do not, I repeat DO NOT discard electric last-mile delivery as an alternative to diesel until you’ve at least tried it. You’ll never go back.
The next truck I come across is the big (electric) boy of the Daimler Truck stable and unfortunately, we were unable to drive this one around the block – well, not yet anyway.
The eActros 600 has been in Europe for a couple of years now and has been a success for the company, winning the International Truck of the Year in 2025.
The 600 denotes the kilowatt of the 3-battery pack and Daimler quotes a range of 500km laden. As the company is ultra-conservative when talking range I’d imagine that figure leaves a reasonable safety margin.
In Europe where delivery distances are much smaller than here, this truck can cover most requirements. In Australia the company would be looking at other applications such as last mile, dock work and so on.
This particular truck – a 4×2 was brought into the country for evaluation purposes and the company is well aware that there is work to be done from infrastructure support to axle weights, but the fact is those and other obstacles will be met and overcome and Daimler will be ready to come out swinging when they are.
As I was talking to our host an existing Daimler client wandered over and hounded him as to when he could lay his hands on a few, so I know the interest is there from some quarters.
To this end, Daimler will be importing a 6×2 version to test in the near future.
Apart from the artwork proclaiming the truck to be 100 per cent electric, you could easily mistake the truck for its diesel-powered brother, the ProCabin, itself relatively new to the Australian market.
To this eye, which has seen this latest design iteration more than most, that’s a good thing, both from its ‘angry’ grill to its wind-cheating design offering 3 per cent fuel savings.
These trucks were just the tip of the iceberg at ‘The Drive Series’.
In the next issue of Big Rigs, out on June 19, we’ll dive into the diesel-powered brigade – including a truck that offered more thrills than slow dancing under the sheets. Stay tuned…