Fleet of electric grocery delivery vans for Tesco

Britain’s largest supermarket chain, Tesco, has added 30 all-electric electric refrigerated vans to its home delivery fleet.

The 30 LDV EV80 vans are equipped with E-200 electric refrigeration units from Thermo King that feature patented power management that contributes to lower overall energy consumption, increased vehicle autonomy and higher efficiency and reliability.

Using this combination of electric van and E-200 refrigeration unit helps Tesco ensure its delivery operations remain compliant with a growing array of regional and local emissions and urban noise regulations, the latter being vital to running night-time deliveries.

Being inverter-driven rather than direct drive, the E-200 unit is claimed to deliver constant capacity independently from the vehicle’s drivetrain, meaning it can seamlessly work with electric and combustion-engine vehicles.

Thermo King says that by varying the electricity flowing to the refrigeration unit, the inverter can provide more power when needed, resulting in a faster temperature pulldown during pre-cooling. Also, by carefully controlling the power supply, the inverter provides accurate control of the motor speed and the exact cooling or heating capacity needed to control the temperature.