IAA 2024: Thermo King turns promise into proof

Every two years, Hannover’s expo halls become the epicenter of the transport and logistics sector under the flag of IAA Transportation. The 2024 edition attracted a record number of visitors, 145,000 people, all expecting to hear from leading vendors about their latest products and strategic roadmaps. That large turnout also translated into a bustling crowd at the Thermo King’s E-Zone booth.

If we may say so ourselves, the E-Zone was certainly an eye-catching place to visit – it expanded on the award-winning showcase first presented at Solutrans last year. With the E-Zone, Thermo King had the perfect space for presenting our ever-growing range of eTRUs for any type of van, truck, or tractor-drive technology.

Giving proof to our continuing innovation

Most importantly, the E-Zone underpins our promise to offer an all-electric refrigeration solution across every segment of the cold chain, supporting fleets in their electric transition and decarbonization efforts. With new products on display, IAA visitors bore witness to how we delivered on that ambition.

The cherry on top for our entire team was the 3 awards we received from an independent jury.

• Advancer—e Spectrum, powered by AxlePower, won a gold International Trailer award in the category of Environment.
• A-500 Spectrum took up 2^nd place in the Trailer Refrigeration category of Best Brand.
• ThermoKare 24/7 Fleet Monitoring snatched another gold medal in Best Brand, Transport Management Systems category.

Launching you into an all-electric future

The best thing about the E-Zone? It can grow and grow and grow – there’s no limit to the innovation it can contain. Compared to Solutrans, which took place less than a year ago, three new, all-electric refrigeration units had taken up a spot at the IAA E-zone.

• E-Series for Van & LCV: featuring the new E-100e and E-200e Spectrum units that bring single- and multi-temperature options to the all-electric last mile
• E-Series for Large Truck: which unveiled the new E-1200e, presenting large truck fleets (>7.5 tons) with all-electric refrigeration in a leaner, low truck height format
• Advancer-e Spectrum, compatible with AxlePower: giving trailer customers access to the most energy-efficient, zero-emissions eTRU on the market, including an energy recovery system to keep your unit powered while on the road 

Keeping your fleet on the road

That’s a lot of new announcements. But we know your fleet requires more today if you want to stay ahead tomorrow. Especially in an all-electric refrigeration future. To address customers’ concerns on battery range and autonomy, we have the very latest in sustainable battery power sources to keep refrigeration units running for longer.

This is only a small part of our dedication to fully equip customers with all necessary solutions for a future-proof refrigerated fleet. To simplify our complete services and solutions offering, Max Your Cool was created. This framework helps customers choose the best approach to maximize their refrigerated fleet’s uptime, sustainability, savings, and control. 

All told, IAA delegates were presented with a comprehensive, end-to-end story for delivering the most cost-effective, high-performance, and zero-emission cold chain possible:

“Innovation has long been the catalyst for imagining a fully decarbonized cold chain. To date, technology has struggled to keep pace with the industry’s collective ambition, but as we’ve shown at IAA that’s no longer the case. Now, our customers can call on proven technology for any vehicle type at every stage of the cold chain. That was our commitment and the latest product launches show what’s possible we’ve more than matched it.”

Erika Smets, Marketing Communications Leader at Thermo King EMEA

The E-Zone remains digitally open

You can see for yourself what the E-Zone looked like, and the buzz it created, by watching our video taken at the event. For those of you who want to revisit the E-Zone, good news! Its digital doors remain open, including all of its innovations – ready for you to explore, right from your desk: here