Electric Now & Ever: Thermo King’s Versatile, Future-Ready Transport Refrigeration Solutions at Solutrans 2025

From power-agnostic to fully electric technologies, Thermo King’s showcase will empower customers on their transformative journey toward a cleaner, smarter, and more adaptable future in refrigerated transport.

Thermo King®, a leader in transport temperature control solutions and a brand of Trane Technologies, will present its latest portfolio of advanced, future-ready refrigeration technologies at Solutrans 2025 in Lyon, France, at Hall 4, Stand F100. With a vision to ensure customers are “best fit for the future,” Thermo King is exhibiting a dynamic lineup of solutions that demonstrates the company’s progress in the decarbonisation of cities and refrigerated transport.

“Our vision is clear: to lead the electric transformation of refrigerated transport by offering solutions that address both today’s operational demands and tomorrow’s sustainability goals,” said Claudio Zanframundo, president of Thermo King EMEA Truck, Trailer, Bus and Global Marine, Rail, Air. “At Solutrans, we’re unveiling market-first innovations that embody our commitment to decarbonisation, flexibility, connectivity, and continuous improvement, empowering our customers to become best fit for the future, regardless of where they are on their journey.”

Recognising that each customer’s path to net zero is unique, Thermo King offers the industry’s most comprehensive range of refrigeration solutions for commercial transport, from last mile deliveries to long-haul trailer distribution. At Solutrans, visitors will discover how Thermo King is fostering ongoing innovation by offering a complete electric portfolio, alongside hybrid and power-agnostic solutions, introducing breakthrough AI and digital advancements. This ensures customers have the tools and support needed to successfully navigate the transitional journey toward electrification and beyond.

Thermo King Solutrans 2025 Highlights:

Digitalisation & AI: Insight at Your Fingertips

In today’s data-rich environment, actionable insights are essential. Thermo King is the first transport refrigeration solutions manufacturer to debut an AI-driven digital innovation, empowering customers to easily navigate the wealth of information generated by telematics. This new Ask TracKing tool distils critical data into intuitive dashboards, enabling smart decision-making in efficiency, performance, and predictive maintenance across varied fleet types.

A Glimpse into the Future: Fully Integrated Electric Trailer Unit Concept

Thermo King will reveal its visionary concept for electric trailer refrigeration, a bold step into the future of decarbonised trailer transport. Engineered for adaptability and intelligence, this power-agnostic concept unit can draw power from multiple sources, including AxlePower-regenerated energy, tractor batteries, rooftop solar, depot charging, and auxiliary battery packs. Advanced AI analytics optimise energy use, maximise uptime, and reduce operational CO₂ emissions. Featuring a compact, streamlined design, low global warming potential (GWP) refrigerant, and transparent life cycle reporting, this concept redefines what’s possible in sustainable refrigerated trailer distribution.

E-Volution: Setting the Benchmark for Large Electric Truck Refrigeration

Unveiled in 2024 and now ready for serial production, the E-Volution truck refrigeration units represent a major step forward in high -capacity electric refrigeration for trucks between 7.5–26 tonnes. With customer-proven performance, the E-Volution features the slimmest profile in its class, reduced maintenance costs, and telematics for comprehensive live fleet management. Its third-party-verified Life Cycle Assessment ensures genuine sustainability, while validated compatibility with major battery electric vehicles (BEV) and integrated architecture make it the ideal solution for BEVs, as well as internal combustion engine (ICE) trucks. The E-Volution platform gives customers enhanced visibility, reliability, and peace of mind for seamless adaptation to a rapidly evolving market.

Also featured at Solutrans are Thermo King’s new fully electric E-Series units, purpose-built for last-mile deliveries in vans and light commercial vehicles. These lightweight, compact refrigeration systems deliver increased payload, up to 20% lower energy consumption, and up to 50% more heating capacity compared to previous models. Equipped with smart controls, integrated telematics, and zero-direct emissions, the E-Series sets a benchmark for efficient, sustainable urban transport, helping fleets meet the demands of electrified, low-emission city logistics.

Smart Solutions for All Fleet Types

In addition to its all-electric solutions, Thermo King’s stand will showcase ongoing investments in hybrid technologies, energy recovery, and operational excellence, supporting also the ICE fleets and helping drive the decarbonisation transformation across the cold chain.

Leading this innovation is Advancer AxlePower, which enables self-charging electric trailer refrigeration, while virtually eliminating impact on tractor fuel consumption. Now widely adopted across  Europe, the  Middle East, and Africa, AxlePower features pan-European homologation and is available for purchase or flexible short- and long-term rental. As the first reefer OEM to offer a sustainable, rental-only fleet with 100% of trailers electrified, Thermo King is setting a new standard in the industry. Customer-centric tools such as the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) calculator support operators by accurately forecasting savings on operating costs and CO₂ emission reductions, empowering data-driven decisions.

Recent advancements are making conventional units more sustainable and efficient than ever before. Thermo King truck and trailer units have been certified to operate on sustainable fuel options like B100 and HVO biofuels, without impacting maintenance schedules or warranty coverage. Taking efficiency even further, Thermo King recognizes the continued prevalence of ICE-powered trailers in fleets. The Advancer trailer unit’s new ECOmode, now reduces fuel consumption by up to 50% compared to continuous operation, delivering real, measurable carbon and fuel savings. Together, these innovations demonstrate how legacy fleets can transition to lower-carbon operations, balancing sustainability with operational excellence.

“Rather than enforcing a one-size-fits-all transition, we want to help customers begin their journey by strategically replacing legacy products with new, best-fit technologies. Whether electrifying, hybridising, or upgrading traditional fleets, Thermo King is a trusted partner, offering leading expertise, a robust and evolving portfolio for every application, and building an even stronger, closer, and more responsive network for our customers, supported by our recent direct distribution investments across Europe,” added Claudio Zanframundo.