Designwerk puts all-electric lowliner on the road for the first time

September 01, 2022 – Electric, clean and lowered: E-mobility specialist Designwerk is putting an all-electric lowliner on the road for the first time. The lowered tractor unit is built on a Volvo FH base chassis and combines the advantages of emission-free transport with a 15 percent larger transport volume. Depending on the application, logistics service providers can cover up to 280 kilometers on one charge. Transport companies in distribution traffic or automotive suppliers who need a large loading capacity charge the E-Lowliner with 350 kilowatts in under 45 minutes. This makes the vehicle the most powerful solution among alternative drives and ensures maximum usability in distribution transport. “With the first all-electric truck in this vehicle class, we are contributing to sustainable logistics and also enabling logistics service providers to be on the road in diesel ban zones, for example,” says CEO Adrian Melliger. The first CEP service providers and customers from the distribution, food, pharmaceutical, automotive and waste disposal logistics sectors will be on the road with the High Cab Lowliner from the end of 2023.

Maximum volume and minimum emissions – with the High Cab Lowliner 4x2T, the Swiss electric mobility company Designwerk is proving its pioneering position in electric mobility and thus continuing to drive the change to sustainable mobility in the commercial vehicle sector. The low fifth-wheel height of a minimum of 937 millimeters ensures a three-meter clear interior loading height for the new electric truck. Compared to conventional tractor units, logistics service providers can achieve up to 15 percent higher volume capacity or transport 50 percent more load carriers with the High Cab Lowliner. Due to the legally permissible increase in weight for alternative drives, there is no loss of payload. In the well-to-wheel analysis, the electric lowliner reduces CO2 emissions by up to 57 percent in Germany and by up to 79 percent in Switzerland compared to a lowered truck with a conventional drive system due to the more electricity produced from renewable energies. “Logistics service providers and transport companies with volume-sensitive freight, as well as automotive suppliers, thus benefit from quieter, lower-emission and more efficient logistics,” explains Melliger.

High Cab Lowliner charges with 350 kilowatts in less than 45 minutes
Designwerk has been developing and manufacturing low-volume electric trucks, mobile fast chargers, battery-buffered fast charging stations in the megawatt range, and modular high-voltage battery systems since 2008. With the four different truck models High Cab, Mid Cab, Mid Cab X and Low Cab, the Swiss e-mobility specialist always offers the right solution for transport and waste disposal logistics companies as well as for municipalities and agricultural businesses. The battery capacity of 380 kilowatt hours used in the new High Cab Lowliner is made possible with the help of in-house and individual battery development and production. The charging concept – 350 kilowatts in less than 45 minutes – thus also fits in with the driving times prescribed in the EU. The 40-ton truck has an output of 500 kilowatts (680 hp) and its 1-speed transmission requires no shifting or clutching. German companies have already applied for funding for 34 high cab lowliners, enabling them to transport more volumes electrically, sustainably and more profitably in the fourth quarter of 2023.