It was a bright sunny day in western Sydney when Foton Mobility handed over six Foton T5 Light Duty Electric trucks to Mainfreight Australia. As I shielded my eyes from the sun and sheltered in the shade of brightly wrapped pantec bodies, I glanced at the warehouse roof and thought about the opportunity for solar panels and a battery to recharge these trucks each night.
The trucks were completed to Mainfreight specifications, based on the current T5 cab chassis, and were handed over to Massey Wade, National Brand & Fleet Coordinator, at the company’s new Yarrunga St. Prestons Depot in Sydney.
The vehicles will be deployed by Mainfreight across four of their Interstate Transport and Warehousing Depots as part of the company’s commitment to sustainability which eliminates the pressure to build charging infrastructure for six trucks in one warehouse. One truck can use a three-phase power outlet in the warehouse.
Mainfreight runs a sub-contractor business model and will use these trucks to introduce their contractors to zero emission transport and encourage them to consider an electric truck for their next vehicle.
As a purpose built electric truck, the T5 with dual 4.5t/6t GVM capability is currently the only car licence Electric Truck on the market with ESC as standard alongside its other safety features according to Foton Mobility.
Neil Wang, CEO at Foton Mobility, was proudly showing me the improvements on this model compared to the left hand drive version that had been doing a roadshow in 2022. Simple things such as the improvement in anti- corrosion properties of the chassis rails highlight how this technology is not new, it’s just reaching Australian roads in 2023.
A Mainfreight spokesperson stated that, “Regardless of the challenge we meet today and those that emerge in the near and more distant future, our commitment to sustainability is inherent in our 100-year vision. We will continue to explore and invest across all aspects of sustainability that impact our organisation, our people, our community and our environment. These vehicles are one small piece of this commitment”.
This commitment to sustainability was applauded by the Federal Member for Werriwa, Anne Stanley MP who was present at the handover and took one of the trucks for drive.
Ms. Stanley said, “It is great to see companies like Mainfreight partnering with Foton Mobility in adopting zero emissions electric vehicles in running their business. Moves like this help build market confidence in the technology and hopefully soon we will see more zero emissions delivery vehicles deployed widely across the Australian economy”.
“The Albanese Government is consulting on the National Electric Vehicle Strategy, and we know there are plenty of great opportunities for logistics companies”.
Jeff Morgan, NSW Manager & National Manager Fleets at Foton Mobility, said that it had been a pleasure to work with Mainfreight to deliver the required outcome, and that he looked forward to supporting Mainfreight as it transitioned the vehicles into its working fleet.
Foton Mobility Distribution are the exclusive Australian Distributor of Foton Motors New Energy commercial vehicles in Australia, including T5 Light Duty EV trucks, Electric and Hydrogen City Buses, to be shortly joined by an EV Commercial Van and a Hydrogen Prime Mover in mid-2023.
