IN Brief:
- M&S and Gist are deploying ten DAF XD Electric tractor units across food and general merchandise logistics.
- One vehicle supplies its trailer refrigeration unit from the truck’s main battery through an integrated inverter.
- Five trucks are already operating, with another five scheduled to enter service during 2026.
Marks & Spencer is introducing ten DAF XD Electric tractor units across its food, fashion, home, and beauty logistics operations, extending battery electric transport into regular distribution work at gross vehicle weights between 32 and 42 tonnes.
Five of the vehicles are already in service, while another five are due to join the fleet during 2026. They will operate with Gist across a combination of chilled and ambient routes, giving M&S a broader operating base than a single vehicle demonstration.
One truck incorporates an inverter that takes energy from the main traction battery and supplies the trailer refrigeration system. The installation is the first use of the configuration on a DAF truck in the UK and removes the need for a separate diesel engine to operate the refrigeration unit.
Daily mileage is expected to reach between 250 and 300 miles, placing the vehicles within a substantial range of planned store distribution duties. Routes that begin and end at the same depot are particularly suitable because charging can be scheduled around known departure, loading, and return times.
The trucks form part of eFREIGHT 2030, the government backed programme supporting zero emission heavy goods vehicles and associated infrastructure. M&S already operates eight other electric HGVs and five battery electric rigid trucks, providing experience across several vehicle formats and transport duties.
Drawing refrigeration energy from the traction battery creates a more integrated vehicle, although it also links temperature control and driving range. Ambient temperature, door openings, trailer insulation, traffic, load weight, and delivery duration will all affect the energy available to complete a route.
Cold chain requirements cannot be relaxed when battery reserves fall. Operators must therefore maintain sufficient margin for congestion, diversions, loading delays, and unusually high refrigeration demand, while charging plans need to account for consecutive shifts and seasonal peaks.
Removing a diesel refrigeration engine can reduce local emissions, noise, fuel use, and mechanical maintenance. It also removes a separate fuel system from the vehicle combination, simplifying some servicing requirements while increasing dependence on the truck’s electrical architecture and energy management software.
Defined routes bring electric HGVs into service
Battery electric HGVs are advancing most rapidly in operations with repeatable distances, high annual mileage, and reliable access to depot charging. Retail distribution meets many of those conditions because delivery patterns are planned centrally and vehicles frequently return to an established logistics site after each shift.
The commercial calculation extends beyond the vehicle purchase price. Electricity tariffs, charger utilisation, depot power upgrades, maintenance, payload, range, insurance, and residual value all influence total operating cost. Infrastructure used intensively by several vehicles is easier to justify than charging equipment installed for a small number of occasional journeys.
Refrigeration adds a further layer because the trailer continues consuming energy during driving, waiting, and parts of the unloading process. Pre cooling the trailer while connected to depot power, minimising unnecessary door openings, and sequencing deliveries carefully can preserve battery capacity without weakening temperature control.
The vehicle programme sits alongside a much larger restructuring of the retailer’s distribution estate. M&S has begun developing a £340 million automated food logistics centre, combining high capacity warehousing with a more consolidated operating network.
That combination of automated buildings and electric transport will increase demand on depot electricity connections. Robotics, refrigeration, lighting, building systems, and high power chargers may draw energy at the same time, requiring load management and, in some cases, substantial reinforcement of the local grid.
Refrigeration suppliers are also changing the way cold trailers are powered. An electrified refrigeration platform introduced by Nivalis Energy Europe reflects the wider shift away from independent diesel units towards systems connected to vehicle or trailer energy storage.
The ten DAF units should produce operating data across summer heat, winter temperatures, congestion, peak trading, and a range of payloads. Consistent completion of planned routes will be more significant than maximum range achieved under controlled conditions, since distribution schedules depend on repeatability rather than occasional best performance.
Charging resilience will receive similar scrutiny. A delayed vehicle, unavailable charger, or local power constraint can affect the following shift, particularly where trucks are used intensively. Depots may require spare charging capacity, energy storage, or alternative vehicle plans to protect service during an infrastructure fault.
M&S is moving the technology from a restricted trial into daily chilled and ambient work, where vehicle performance can be compared with established diesel operations. The next stage will be determined by route completion, energy consumption, refrigeration reliability, driver experience, and the ability of depot infrastructure to support a larger electric fleet without constraining warehouse operations.
