Astra plant makes the switch to electric tow tractors
1 min read
General Motors has introduced electric tow tractors to replace gas-powered units at its Ellesmere Port plant, where it makes the Astra. The car manufacturer says the switch is improving lineside delivery operations, as well as saving energy.
The tow tractors are from Linde, with Hawker batteries and charging systems from Enersys. Richie Mellor, senior engineer at the plant, says: "EnerSys and the tractor manufacturer have supplied us with a complete package that met our specification, delivered operational benefits and a number of savings."
More than 2,000 people are employed on the 130-acre site in Ellesmere Port. The operation demands just-in-time delivery of components and assemblies to the lineside. Parts are handled on special trolleys and carts which used to be towed by LPG-powered tractors, but a drawback was that the tractors had leave the production building to visit outdoor gas bottle stores whenever they needed refuelling. This generally occurred once every shift.
After testing equipment on site for a year, General Motors decided on a combination of 25 Linde P602 tow tractors and Hawker batteries, with Hawker LifeSpeed high speed chargers.
The choice of battery and charger was crucial; these allow the trucks' charge to be topped up for short periods during scheduled work breaks to ensure operation throughout the entire shift. This is supplemented by overnight charging at the weekend to ensure the batteries are always full for the start of the next week's first shift.
"This saves a lot of time each day," says Mellor. "With the old tractors it took around 10 minutes to leave the working area to replace the gas bottle but with the new electric tractors we don't need to do this." With 25 tractors in the fleet, this added up to 250 working minutes lost across each shift, time which is now available for productive work.
