IJ McGill Transport joins eFreight 2030 consortium

The eFreight 2030 project, which is part of the Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrator (ZEHID) programme, funded by the Department for Transport (DfT) and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK, is introducing 100 electric HGV tractor units and 32 new charging locations over a multi-year real world evaluation.

As part of the scheme, IJ McGill Transport is adding the three DAF electric trucks to its fleet of 130 vehicles, which includes a mix of 40-tonne and 44-tonne tractor units, rigid trucks ranging from 7.5 tonnes to 18 tonnes, 3.5 tonne vans and a variety of trailers.

The family-run enterprise will also install charging infrastructure at three of its five depots, including a Voltempo UK manufactured megawatt HyperCharger at its Bristol site and 240-kilowatt chargers at its Tavistock and West Bromwich locations.

Heather Brown, operations director at IJ McGill Transport, said: “Our charging strategy will primarily focus on depot-based charging, utilising the downtime between routes. The megawatt HyperCharger at our Bristol site will be able to charge a vehicle in an hour, while our 240-kilowatt chargers will take around 90 minutes.

“We’ll be charging vehicles during two key windows – early morning when trucks return from overnight trunking operations between 3-4am and again in the early evening between 5-7pm before they go out for night work.”

The new electric vehicles, which are being purchased through IJ McGill Transport’s local dealer, Motus Commercials DAF Avonmouth, will be used for both daytime distribution and overnight trunk routes. This will maximise vehicle utilisation while taking advantage of charging opportunities during vehicle downtime.

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