The electric Q-Light van from Quantron AG is now also available as a plug-in hybrid.
Tracing its roots to 1882 in Germany as a manufacturer of horse-drawn carriage, Quantron AG was founded in 2019 to paving the way for e-mobility in inner-city and regional passenger and freight transport. The basis for this would be the commercial vehicle experience of Haller GmbH & Co. KG. Driven by the belief that the importance of diesel drives will steadily decrease. in order to achieve future climate and CO2 targets, the company has announced the introduction of a plug-in hybrid van Q-Light. As a variant of the Q-Light electric van, the plug-in hybrid variant offers high driving range and drive power of a combustion engine with the possibility of covering distances flexibly in emission-free electric mode. In green environmental zones to be precise. The purely electric range of the vehicle is up to 70 km at a top speed of 80 kmph, making the Q-Light Hybrid panel van ideal for sustainable transport services in daily urban traffic. The environmentally friendly vehicle also claimed to tackle gradients and display strong acceleration under heavy load with ease. Depending on the size, the battery is fully charged within just 3.5 to five hours. Additional energy can also be generated while driving via the electric motor, which significantly extends the vehicle’s electric range.
Based on Iveco Daily, the Q-Light plug-in hybrid panel van is near silent in its operation in the emission-free electric mode. This makes it particularly pleasant for residents and employees in and around the vehicle. Coming from a commercial vehicle conversion company, the Q-Light plug-in hybrid panel van, by the virtue of its ability to operate silently and sans any emission, can be used in urban logistics processes during the day and night. Deliveries can also be made outside peak traffic hours, which would help to equalise traffic and reduce peak time congestion. Based on Iveco Daily, the Q-light plug-in hybrid panel van is available in various sizes between 3.5 and seven-tonne GVW. Offered by a company that is said to be working on fuel cell transporter vans in association with AE Driven Solutions (AEDS), the Q-Light offers a payload of up to 3,400 kg depending on the version chosen. Available in both manual and Hi-Matic automatic transmissions, the Q-Light plug-in hybrid panel van is supported by years of experience of Quantron, which presents not just new e-vehicles but also undertakes the conversion of used and existing vehicles. The work of Quantron is made interesting by the fact that the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure has announced that it will support such electrification of vehicles with a grant of up to 80 per cent of the costs from July 2021.
Planning to offer a panel van and flatbed in the case of the fuel-cell powered van, Quantron has announced that the vehicle will have an output of 100 kW for a 4.2-tonner and 147 kW for a 7.2 tonner. The range would depend on the customer’s chosen tank size and is to be between 300 and 500 km. The price for the model named Q-LIH2 yet to be announced, and the launch date yet to be revealed, the fuel-cell van should cost more than the plug-in hybrid van and pure-electric van on offer, which costs Euro 36,500 and above. The pure-electric van from the conversion company costs Euro 68,500 and above. Focusing on retrofitting existing models that will lead to further CO2 savings, as existing resources can be used, Quantron AG is keen to ensure that battery-electric and fuel cell drive systems complement each other as far as commercial vehicles are concerned. AEDS, a spin-off of the RWTH Aachen University, is helping Quantron, which recently announced a 44-tonne fuel-cell truck with a range of 700 km and is scheduled to go into production from end of 2022, to develop hydrogen fuel-cell technology for commercial vehicle production.
