Daf will start to manufacture their fully electric, 19-tonne LF at their factory in Leyland from May this year. With a payload & body allowance of 11.7 tonnes, this compares favourably with a 18-tonne CF. With a 5.4m wheelbase, a diesel-engine CF300 (220kW) weighs in at 6,762kgs giving a body and payload allowance of 11,238kgs – the Road Vehicles (Authorised Weight) and (Construction and Use) (Amendment) Regulations 2017 allows an extra one tonne on top of the standard 18 tonnes GVW for electric trucks. So, even a DAF LF at 18 tonnes with the smaller 7-litre PACCAR diesel at 290HP (217kW) only has a body & payload allowance of 12,619kgs – less than one tonne advantage which reduces by the time you have filled the tank with diesel.

So, the payload shouldn’t be too much of an issue – what about the range? With 175 miles to play with, this should be plenty for most urban delivery applications, assuming there is a 22kW charging facility back at home base to fill up overnight.

DAF’s Electric Heritage

The company already has an electric CF tractor unit grossing at 37 tonnes for urban deliveries, a CF 29 tonner for waste applications and now a 19-tonne LF.

The LF Electric is a fully electric distribution truck for urban applications with a range of up to 175 miles.

The existing CF Electric trucks have already clocked up several hundreds of thousands of kilometres with high profile customers, building DAF’s experience with electric driveline technology.

Regular routes

The e-motor of the LF Electric provides 250 kW of nominal power (370 kW peak) and a nominal torque of 1.200 Nm (3.700 Nm peak). Power comes from a lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery pack with a gross energy content of 282 kWh (254 kWh effective). This offers the LF Electric a range of 280 ultra-quiet and ‘zero emission’ kilometres more than enough for the needs of urban distribution transport operators. 

Latest generation batteries

DAF uses so-called LFP batteries (Lithium Ferro Phosphate) on all fully electric vehicles. These are batteries of the very latest generation, containing no cobalt or magnesium, in the interests of sustainability. Additionally, they are better packaged – resulting in a higher energy density per litre – and the chemistry of the battery ensures the highest thermal safety. The LFP batteries come with a 6-year warranty, illustrating DAF’s confidence in terms of performance, reliability and durability.

Slow and fast charging

A special feature of the new DAF LF Electric is the ‘Combined Charging System’. This allows the truck to be charged through the regular electricity network and is ideal when the truck returns to the home base at the end of the day. Through slow charging (400V AC, 22 kW, 3 phase), the battery pack can be charged from 20% to 80% in 6.5 hours. A full charge (0% to 100%) takes up to 12 hours. If dedicated equipment is available, fast charging the batteries (650V DC, 150 kW) will only take 60 minutes from 20% to 80% or 2 hours for a full charge.  

DAF LF Electric
With a payload & body allowance of 11.7 tonnes, the LF Electric compares favourably with a 18-tonne CF

e-PTO available

As an option, the new DAF LF Electric is available with a 400V e-PTO for powering auxiliary equipment such as an electric cooling installation or an electro-hydraulic crane. This eliminates the need of a separate generator and will result in a full ‘zero emission’ distribution truck.

DAF LF Electric Chassis 19-tonne 2021 on Sale May
The Futuristic DAF LF Electric will be hitting the UK’s roads form May 2021

Two wheelbases 

The LF Electric is initially available as a 19-tonne rigid, with a choice of 5.3 or 5.85 metre wheelbases. The truck offers a body & payload allowance of 11,700 kilograms, which is sufficient for the majority of city distribution applications. 

DAF LF Electric | Rigid — Technical specifications

  • Chassis 19 tonnes, 4×2
  • Wheelbase 5300 millimetres 
  • 5850 millimetres 
  • Weight chassis 7300 kg
  • Payload 11700 kg
  • Electric motor Dana, Permanent Magnet 
  • Power 250 kW (nominal) / 370 kW (peak)
  • Torque  1.200 Nm (nominal) / 3.700 Nm (peak)
  • Battery capacity 282 kWh (254 kWh effective capacity)
  • Range fully charged vehicle up to 280 km / 175 miles 

Quick charge batteries at 150 kW

  • 20%-> 80%  1 hr 
  • 0%-> 100% 2 hrs 

Overnight slow charge at 22 kW

  • 20% -> 80%  6.5 hrs
  • 0%-> 100% 12 hrs