Ulm, Germany-based heavy transport specialist KAMAG had on its stand at inter airport its Electric Catering Wiesel, or E-Catering Wiesel. It offers an emissions-free alternative to conventional catering trucks
KAMAG specialises in producing vehicles and related equipment for transporting outsize and super-heavy loads for industries such as maritime, oil and gas and mining. It manufactures multi-axle self-propelled modular transporters (SPMTs), for example, for the movement of outsize and heavy project cargo loads.
The company has been producing the Wiesel chassis for some three decades, producing more than 2,000 of them – by no means all of them catering vehicles – informs head of global marketing Volker Seitz.
Its Wiesel catering trucks have been in use with ramp operators for about 15 years. Moreover, inter airport Europe 2019 marked the world premier of the new all-electric aircraft catering variant.
And it drew plenty of attention at the event, says Seitz. This unit is current operating at Vienna International Airport, while there are many more of its conventional diesel variants in use at various locations.
The vehicle offers three main advantages to other catering trucks, Seitz declares. First, it is electro-hydraulically powered, making it quiet and emission-free. It is powered by a 156kW motor that directly drives the rear axle of the vehicle, so there is no need for a gearbox or converter. The hydraulics of the vehicle are in turn driven by a separate electric motor.
The batteries can be recharged using charging stations or with the help of a wall-mounted box. Plus, the vehicle has an on-board charger with a capacity of 22kW that enables charging from conventional power sockets.
The cooling unit of the box body is a so-called split device in which the chiller is positioned on the chassis while the evaporator is fitted in the body of the vehicle. The use of multiple electric motors improves the energy efficiency of the vehicle because only that which is required at any given time is in operation.
Second, the E-Catering Wiesel has the very unique capability of dropping its main body right down to ground level by sliding the operator/driver’s cabin sideways and therefore out of the way of the catering space when it is required to descend to floor level.
A third important characteristic of the unit is that it can handle such a wide range of aircraft. It can serve almost all types of aircraft, the only exception being the A380’s upper deck.
Other benefits include a fully equipped driver’s cab, with two full-sized, comfortable seats. The large, undivided glass front windscreen of the cabin allows an unobstructed view of the area in front of the vehicle while – in order for the driver to see the aircraft he is serving clearly – there is also a large roof window.
Provision of a covered balcony area in front of the refrigerated main space means that an operator does not have to wait in the refrigerated body until the vehicle has safely docked onto the aircraft. And because the operator does not open the roller door of the refrigerated area until the transfer of the catering roll containers can actually begin, there is no loss of cooling performance through the door.
