Frigoblock, a brand of Thermo King, was awarded the European Transport Award for Sustainability 2022 for its electric FK25i refrigeration unit. Frigoblock all-electric technology took the honours in the competition’s cooling and heating category for its innovative design accommodating the requirements of battery-powered, electric trucks.
“Winning this award reflects the focus Frigoblock has always put on electrification as a mean for efficient, sustainable and clean refrigerated transport,” said Laurent Debias, product and marketing director at Thermo King in Europe, Middle East and Africa. “Innovation and sustainability have been the guiding principles for our product development, and our expertise in electrification has positioned us as trusted partner to our customers, industry leaders and regulators across Europe. We’ll continue to work closely with our customers and the industry to keep advancing zero-emissions technologies for the refrigerated transport.”
The combination of battery-powered, electric trucks and Frigoblock FK25i creates zero direct emissions delivery model, which along with the environmental benefits, also gives transporters increased operational freedom. The possibility to enter Low Emission Zones at any time of day or night, when traffic is lower and parking easier, allows the delivery companies to save time, increase punctuality and uptime.
Frigoblock FK25i uses integrated inverter technology to work directly with the battery-powered vehicles, minimising the number of energy-consuming components. This allows for most optimal use the vehicles’ battery capacity and contributes to maximising the truck’s range.
To meet the electrical requirements of the new electric trucks, Frigoblock designed a new CAN-Bus-Gateway system for direct communication between the truck and the cooling system. The intelligent control efficiently manages the energy demand of the unit using only the minimal energy needed to maintain the set-point temperature. The redesigned CAN-Gateway system also ensures additional electrical safety, independently shutting down the refrigeration unit in case of an electrical emergency.
“The redesigned CAN communication opens the door to further developments in sustainable, electric transport refrigeration,” said Ingo Kaltwasser, Chassis OEM Manager for Frigoblock in Europe, Middle East and Africa. “In the future, with the enhanced communication capabilities and smart route planning, the refrigeration unit will be able to contribute to increasing the electric vehicle’s range and make this sustainable, CO2 neutral cold chain logistics solution even more operationally efficient.”
