Carrier Transicold has introduced the second generation of its fully electric Vector eCool trailer refrigeration unit (TRU), refining its design with a lighter battery, improved charging system, and enhanced regenerative energy capabilities.
The company, along with its local dealer Nordic Refrigeration, exhibited the trailer at the ExpoCam show in Montreal from Feb. 6 to Feb. 8. The system is already available on the market and — while engineered for North America’s various operating conditions — will enhance efficiency but address the challenges of operating in Canada’s diverse climate and longer-haul routes, where reliability and payload capacity are key considerations. This is according to Sam Roach, associate director of North American sales at Carrier Transicold, who briefed TruckNews.com about the self-sustaining system that recharges in motion.
Smaller battery, single plug charging
The company took feedback from its own engineers, users and trials to spec’ the new Vecor eCool.
While the first-generation Vector eCool used a 60 kWh battery, the latest version now operates with a 45 kWh battery, cutting weight from over 6,000 lbs to just over 2,000 lbs. This weight reduction improves payload capacity while maintaining the power needed for refrigeration.
“We kind of found the sweet spot with the 45 kilowatt hours,” Roach said.
Another notable improvement is the charging system. Previously, it required two separate plugs—one for the TRU and another for the battery. The second-generation model now features a single plug, streamlining installation and operation.
“You were charging with one plug and powering with another. Now we have one plug, and it does it all,” Roach explained. “And it’s using shore power, so you don’t need a secondary charging source.”
Self-charging via regenerative braking
Carrier Transicold claims that Vector eCool is the only battery-electric trailer TRU that charges while the vehicle is in motion. Its regenerative-energy system harnesses electricity through in-wheel motors mounted on the trailer’s hubs, which capture energy when braking and coasting.
“We have an algorithm and in-wheel motors that harnesses electricity so [when] you take your foot off the gas pedal, it starts to harness energy. That energy then is fed into a 40/45-kilowatt-hour battery, which then fuels our electric TRU, thus keeping your your goods at temperature,” Roach explained, saying that each wheel hub generates 80 kW of electricity, totaling 160 kW across the trailer’s two hubs.
“So that’s 160 total kilowatt hours that’s harnessed from each wheeled wheel motor that feeds into a battery…We also can harness energy at higher speeds, which creates a little bit of drag but regenerates your battery at a much higher rate,” he added, saying that when parked, the trailer can also be charged via shore power, allowing fleets to top off the battery while at distribution centers or fleet yards.
Real-world testing and performance
Since the first generation’s initial launch in 2022, Carrier Transicold has tested the Vector eCool with nearly a dozen national and regional food distributors. “We put over 500,000 miles on our Vector eCool between gen one and gen two. Through that time, we’ve saved over 15,000 gallons of fuel. We’ve been on all electric that time frame. We have not lost one load. We’ve never had a load come in over or under temperature.”
The latest-generation unit has already been used in real-world applications, too.
“This [exact] trailer was used by a California customer last month, and it came from California fully loaded to the ExpoCam show and ran on 100% electricity. No diesel was used, no backup.”
Roach said that a local customer — one of Quebec’s largest fleets — will also be testing the unit for 30 days as soon as ExpoCam was over on Feb. 8.
Cold weather performance, telematics monitoring
Canadian fleets operate in a wider range of extreme temperatures than those in the U.S., and the second-generation Vector eCool was designed with that in mind.
“The Canadian market is extremely different than the United States market,” Roach said. “Part of our gen two improvements was to make this more of a robust system to fit Canadian applications. You guys in Canada typically have longer hauls, you have heavier GVW, you have higher ambient [temperatures] and lower ambient [temperatures] than we see in [some parts of] the United States.”
Since batteries usually tend to struggle in extreme cold and heat, the Vector eCool’s battery includes electric cooling and heating to keep it in the optimal operating range. “It’s going to keep that battery right in the sweet spot,” Roach said, adding that Carrier Transicold’s Lynx Fleet telematics platform is also integrated into Vector eCool, just like any other TRU they manufacture.
This system provides real-time monitoring of battery health, charge status, temperature, wheel hub activity, and system performance, which can be accessed by fleet managers, local dealers, and Carrier Transicold engineers.