Chinese electric heavy-duty truck developer Windrose Technology is keeping its foot on the accelerator for 2024. Arjan Velthoven, editor TTM.nl, and Dutch member of the International Truck of the Year Jury, got up close to one in Europe.
In April, it announced completion of the second phase of its Series B financing, raising the total funding for this round to US$110 million.
The proceeds of this series B financing will be used to accelerate the testing and deployment of Windrose Technology’s electric long-haul trucks globally, to set up a new supply chain center and production facility, as well as to implement fast-charging infrastructure.
The company’s first electric long-haul truck has a range of 670km under full load of 49 tonnes. The Windrose EV truck has an 800V high-voltage fast-charging platform and can replenish 400km of range in under 36 minutes.
In the fourth quarter of this year, Windrose intends to launch a European 4×2 specification. That will be an estimated 7.4m long with 520hp. Weight will decrease to around 9.5 tonnes.
The company is currently looking for transport companies to partner with and additional investors.
“We are looking for partners. We need investment to set up a distribution and aftersales network,” said Eric Gauthier, Windrose head of operations Europe and responsible for Windrose’s rollout in Europe.
“Financially, we have a solid foundation. We want to debut on the New York Stock Exchange later this year.”
The new Windrose EV has already been driving in France for Decathlon and in Belgium the company managed to snare Gilbert de Clerq as a pilot customer. The port of Antwerp was looked at and Windrose became a main sponsor of the basketball team Antwerp Giants.
The truck
The truck is a long and tall vehicle, at 3.90m high and 8.10m long. After the already-long cab, is a chassis with a total of three axles. On the rear axles there are two electric motors each, which are good for a peak power output of 1400 hp – more than any European e-truck. The battery pack consists of three stacks of two battery modules each, good for six modules in total and 729kWh at a voltage of 800V. The battery pack, supplied by an external supplier, is sufficient for 670km range at a total weight of 49 tonnes.
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It boasts a drag coefficient of just 0.275, considerably lower than that of the similarly styled Tesla Semi (0.36).
The cabin of the Windrose EV is large, measuring 280cm in length, 220cm in width and 245cm in height. The bed, with a thin mattress, is 88cm wide. A second seat can be optionally fitted. Against the rear wall, there are three large cupboards. Under the sloping windscreen, there is a reasonably wide dashboard, with plenty of storage space and minimal number of buttons.
There is an instrument display right behind the centrally located steering wheel and two large screens on either side of the steering wheel. The Windrose EV only has rear-view cameras so there are screens in the cabin for that too.
During a brief drive we got used to the central seating position very quickly. The screens are easy to read and so are the camera screens. Behind the steering wheel, we find flippers that allow good regeneration at lower speeds. It’s a pleasant first encounter with this Windrose.
