While advances in battery technology will make electric heavy goods vehicles a reality within the next 10-15 years, the technology can’t solve the refrigeration challenge in the near or medium-term.

Firstly, battery power hasn’t enough energy density (the amount of energy batteries store) to cope with modern cold chain duty cycles – and won’t close the gap in the foreseeable future.

Limited battery lifespans also mean they need to be replaced several times during the life of a vehicle. Not only does that make them uneconomical, it also radically compromises their environmental benefits, considering the chemicals, processes and energy needed to make them, and the effort to safely dispose of them.

On top of that, charging is slow, infrastructure costly and grid capacity unfeasible at the scale that will be needed.

Naturally, we believe in our own technology. So do the brilliant people who’ve helped us to develop it. Over the last 5 years our systems have been trialled across the full spectrum of chilled and frozen delivery chain duties. That’s thousands of miles and hours of cooling for European retailers and food producers including Unilever, Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury’s, all validating the benefits of the system: