Pro à Pro, a subsidiary of the Métro Group, a leading supplier to the catering sector, has selected Carrier Transicold’s Iceland 8 engineless refrigeration unit to equip its first 100% electric vehicle. Carrier Transicold is part of Carrier Global Corporation, the leading global provider of healthy, safe, sustainable and intelligent building and cold chain solutions.
Pro à Pro recently purchased a new 16-metric ton all-electric truck, the first of its kind in its fleet. Designed by Renault Trucks, with bodywork by Sainte-Marie, this vehicle underlines Pro à Pro’s commitment to reducing its environmental impact and meeting future traffic standards in city centers.
“At the start of the project, we chose Carrier Transicold because it had the technological solutions to meet our exact requirements, namely to transport goods at three different temperature levels – for dried, fresh and frozen products, with a lowest temperature of -22 C – while reducing our carbon dioxide (CO2) and noise emissions to zero, when delivering early in the morning in city centers,” said Thierry Demenois, Supply Chain Director at Pro à Pro.
The Iceland 8 is part of the Carrier Transicold truck/trailer refrigeration range. The unit is connected to the vehicle’s battery using Carrier energy management system, which converts the direct current produced and stored by the truck while driving into the alternating current required to operate the refrigeration unit. The Iceland 8 unit is equipped with a hermetically-sealed scroll compressor with only two moving mechanical parts, thus ensuring continuous compression of the refrigerant and minimizing the risk of leakage (about 1% per year). In addition, the defrosting and heating system is managed by an electric resistance, simplifying the system and increasing its reliability.
Energy efficient solutions such as the Iceland 8, support Carrier’s aim to reduce its customers’ carbon footprint by one gigaton, part of its 2030 Environmental, Social and Governance Goals. The unit is energy-efficient, quiet and environmentally sustainable.
“This first 100% electric truck is a perfect example of the two companies’ ability to innovate in order to deliver solutions that address the transport challenges of the future,” said Jean-Pascal Vielfaure, Carrier Transicold’s Director for Southern Europe.
The vehicle has been operating in the Montauban area since March and will be tested in both Toulouse and Perpignan.
Iceland units are one of the solutions offered through Carrier’s Healthy, Safe, Sustainable Cold Chain Program to preserve and protect the supply of food, medicine and vaccines.