Tribune News Network
Doha
QTerminals has received the first advanced electric tractor (APM 75T HE) that was assembled in Qatar at the assembly line GAME (Gaussin Advanced Mobility Electric) in the Ras Bufontas Free Zone.
The electric tractor will be used for transporting containers at Hamad Port.
Minister of Transport and Communications HE Jassim Saif Ahmed Al Sulaiti said that the operations of assembling electric tractors for transporting containers at Hamad Port terminals in Qatar are in pace with the ministry’s vision for supporting the national manufacturing and deploying the latest technologies that are based on environmental sustainability and clean energy.
This step, he said, also supports the ministry’s plans for enhancing the localisation of industry, expertise and the technology in use globally, in addition to localising the actual operational processes for mobility, transportation and communications projects in such a way that enriches the investment mentality of national companies to achieve the Qatar National Vision 2030.
The minister affirmed that producing this type of tractors will serve the Electric Vehicles Strategy MoTC had developed with the bodies concerned and which aims to support the country’s ambition for greener future.
Hamad Port’s Container Terminal 2 is equipped with 22 advanced electric tractors APM 75T HE for container transportation within the terminal and the port.
This type of terminal tractors is capable of functioning very efficiently in high temperatures. It uses advanced batteries; an entirely solid-state technology insensitive to temperature variations from -20 to 160°C. This supports its operations at Hamad Port in summers, when temperatures are very high in Qatar.
APM 75T HE Terminal Tractors are highly productive with low maintenance cost. They are also easy to drive with a high level of safety, eco-friendly and energy saver. Being fully-electric makes them clean and sustainable with no polluting or carbon emissions or noise. They have also a low operational cost.
Each tractor will save nearly QR45,500 a year versus the diesel-powered tractors. One kilowatt per hour costs QR0.32 in electric tractors compared to QR2.32 in diesel-powered ones.