On 14 March, Schmitz Cargobull Ltd took over the King’s Suite of the Hilton Metropole, situated near the NEC in Birmingham, to launch the ‘S.KOe Cool’, an all-new fully-electric refrigerated semi-trailer which is the first of its kind to receive type approval for the European market.

These 'S.KO COOL' reefers are installed with Schmitz’s ‘S.CU d80’ transport refrigeration units as well as its ‘TrailerConnect’ telematics hardware.

The ‘E-500e’ is powered directly by the vehicle battery and does not require additional investment in a dedicated battery or shore connection module.

Daikin Europe began in 1973 with its first manufacturing site in Ostend, Belgium. The company now has factories in the Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, Italy and Spain.

The new distributor will be responsible for sales of all temperature control refrigeration unit models.

At the ‘Distribution Solutions 2023’ conference organised by the International Foodservice Distributors Association in Fort Worth, Texas between 11-13 September, Utility Trailer presented two trailers – the ‘625 Hybrid’ and ‘655 MultiTemp Hybrid’ – fitted with Schmitz S.CU transport refrigeration units.

With 100 or so single temperature trailers operating in the UK, Tiger Trailers is now offering the market a tri-temperature version.

Schmitz earlier this year opened its factory in Manchester and is looking to expand its product range as well as volumes accordingly.

The reefer semi-trailer is equipped with a Carrier electric refrigeration system that is powered when the vehicle is stationary by a battery charged by an electric grid connection, and, when in motion, by regenerative braking energy produced by a Valx electric trailer axle, eliminating emissions from the refrigeration equipment.

Through a dedicated mobile application, the driver can access data from the wLog via Bluetooth at any time and can set it to log data from every two minutes to every hour.

The S.KOe Cool is powered entirely by electricity; the energy recovered by the e-axle while braking provides auxiliary power for recharging the refrigerator battery.

Part of a portfolio of new EV products which Thermo King calls “evolve”, the ‘e1000’ is a transport refrigeration unit (TRU) designed for rigid trucks carrying temperature-controlled goods.