Janus Converts Cement Truck

The last time I spoke with Lex Forsyth of Janus Trucks, he spoke glowingly of an ever expanding backlog of trucks lining up for conversions from diesel to electric. Now, Cement Australia has just delivered its first load in New South Wales with an electric Janus JE410, the latest addition to its fleet.

“The Janus JE410 was purchased originally as a Kenworth T410 Glider and was then converted by Janus Electric into a battery electric vehicle (EV). According to Janus, this is the first fully manufactured electric Class A truck in Australia.

“Fuel tanks have been replaced with exchangeable batteries providing 620kWh in total, along with an electric blower discharge that works off the battery. Under the bonnet, a 350kW motor is capable of producing around 490 horsepower with a range of four to six hundred kilometres, attached to a 12-speed gearbox. The truck, rated to 70 tonnes, can also operate using a concrete plant’s power by having external power plugged into it.”

Cement Australia purchases around 20 Kenworth models a year. With a 2050 target for achieving net-zero emissions, they decided to trial a converted truck.

“We’re traditional Kenworth customers, so we basically decided to have one of our normal trucks converted so that the transition for our drivers into a new bit of kit would be easier,” Cement Australia General Manager — Supply Chain & Logistics, Blair Price said.

“It’s effectively just a standard T410 Kenworth without the driveline.

“We’ve only just taken delivery of it, so we’ll run the wheels on it for the next 12 months and then be able to put key performance indicators (KPI) up against our normal diesel ones.”

“Cement Australia reached out to us in interests of having a deeper look at our product, and they decided that they wanted to go ahead with a new Glider,” Janus Electric General Manager Lex Forsyth said.

“It hasn’t been an easy journey to get to this part, but Cement Australia have come along in the journey with us in developing this product.

“They’ve been great partners to work with.”

Hopefully, the government will also do what it can to encourage more trucking companies to convert over from diesel to electric and Janus will continue to be very busy.