Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC; headquarters: Kawasaki City, Kanagawa Prefecture; President and CEO: Hartmut Schick), announces that the eCanter has officially launched in New Zealand, and is now running in customer hands.
This month, Fuso New Zealand, the official local distributor of Fuso products, delivered a unit of the eCanter to Genesis Energy Limited. Genesis is a leading power supplier in New Zealand, and currently operates around 110 trucks. The eCanter will be used for deliveries and customer service operations in Auckland, New Zealand’s largest city. The locally CO2-neutral eCanter has been integrated into the Genesis fleet to push forward its aim of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions.
The eCanter for New Zealand is shipped from Tramagal, Portugal, and comes with the same standard specifications as the models currently available in Japan and Europe. In order to support safe driving in city environments, the vehicle is installed with safety features such as the Advanced Emergency Braking System, the Lane Departure Warning System, as well as the Electronic Stability Program.
Earlier this year, Fuso New Zealand was granted co-funding by the Ministry of Energy and Resources for operational trials of the eCanter. Five eCanter trucks have since been deployed in the Auckland area for an extended test period. The grant was provided from New Zealand’s Low Emission Vehicle Contestable Fund, which recently announced it would increase its funding scope from 6-7 million NZD a year to 25 million NZD a year by 2024. MFTBC expects the eCanter’s presence will continue to grow as New Zealand strengthens its investments in vehicle electrification.
