The road show was completed in temperatures as low as -19°C: the Renault Trucks Diamond Echo electric truck travelled 23,000 kilometres across Europe

Renault Trucks has announced the successful completion of the roadshow of the Renault E-Tech Diamond Echo electric truck. Since leaving the manufacturer's headquarters in Lyon, France, in April 2023, the vehicle has covered 23,000 kilometres across Europe. The route has taken it on roads in France, the Netherlands, the UK, Spain, Switzerland, Belgium and Germany. The last leg was Finland.

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The Renault E-Tech Diamond Echo covered up to 700 kilometres in a day thanks to optimised intermediate charging management. The longest distance the car travelled on a single charge was 360 km in a single trip between Switzerland and Germany.

For the final stage of the Renault E-Tech Diamond Echo roadshow, the Renault E-Tech Diamond Echo travelled to Finland in December 2024 to demonstrate the performance of the electric propulsion system in challenging climatic conditions. Upon arrival in Finland, the E-Tech T Diamond Echo travelled 1,600 kilometres between Helsinki and Rovaniemi in Lapland, including a 250-kilometre stage on a single charge and a day that ended with 700 kilometres with two intermediate charges.

Renault Trucks says the expedition helped dispel a number of preconceived notions about the performance of electric trucks in extreme cold weather. For example, when temperatures dropped to -19°C, the electric truck maintained performance comparable to diesel vehicles. The cold caused a slight increase in energy consumption (10 to 15%), mainly due to common factors affecting all types of powertrains, such as aerodynamics and winter tyres.

"Cab heating had no significant impact on range, largely due to the programmable preheating system that optimises energy consumption," said Régis Pierrel, Renault Trucks' director of electric vehicle operations. He also revealed that, according to one customer, last winter at -30°C, the electric truck was the only operational truck in the fleet because the AdBlue fluid crystallised in the other diesel vehicles.

With this final stage of the roadshow, Renault Trucks has completed a year of practical demonstrations of the performance and reliability of its electric models.

The Renault Truck Diamond Echo is based on the Renault Trucks E-Tech T chassis, designed for regional food and beverage distribution and transport between logistics centres. The diamonds painted on its cab are electroluminescent. The paint is based on LumiLor technology, which lights up when exposed to an electric current.

Source: Renault Trucks