SAGMOTO i5 Electric Trucks for Factory Internal Logistics

Replacing Diesel Yard Tractors with the i5

Inside manufacturing campuses, the dirtiest, noisiest vehicles are often the ones nobody notices: diesel yard tractors and internal transfer trucks shuttling parts between receiving docks, lines, and warehouses. The SAGMOTO new energy electric trucks i5 platform is purpose-built to replace them. Its PMSM drive, LFP battery, and 16-28 m³ body envelope fit the daily duty cycle of factory internal logistics almost exactly: short, repeating loops, frequent stops, and fixed depot charging. This article sets out the duty cycle, charging strategy, payload trade-off, and the cost-per-km case that decides whether the i5 beats diesel in your yard.

The Factory Duty Cycle

Internal logistics rarely looks like highway driving. A typical transfer loop runs 2-6 km between docks, with 15-40 stops per shift for loading and unstuffing. Daily distance lands at 80-150 km, well inside the i5's working range, and the truck returns to a known depot every shift — ideal for depot charging. The value of electrification here is not just emissions: it is the removal of diesel exhaust and 76 dB of engine noise from a confined yard where workers walk among the vehicles all day.

Body: 4.2 m Box or Flatbed

Two bodies dominate factory duty. The 4.2 m insulated or dry box is used for line-side parts feeding and finished-goods moves; the flatbed with removable posts suits palletised inbound and returnable packaging. The i5's low 920 mm frame height aligns with standard 1,000-1,200 mm dock plates, so loading does not require ramps. Side curtains or roll doors speed curbside transfer where the truck serves multiple line points in one loop.

Charging Strategy: Overnight AC Plus Opportunity DC

The cheapest charging is depot overnight AC on off-peak tariff. A 22 kW three-phase connection refills the 98 kWh battery in about 5 hours and the 131 kWh pack in about 7 hours — both fit comfortably inside a 10-hour plant shutdown. For operations that run two shifts or cannot spare a full overnight window, an opportunity DC top-up during the driver's break using a 60 kW CCS2 charger restores 20-80% in around 60 minutes (standard) or 80 minutes (extended). The battery thermal management pre-conditions cells before high-rate DC charging, protecting longevity regardless of ambient heat.

• Overnight baseline: 22 kW AC, off-peak tariff, full charge before first shift.
• Opportunity top-up: 60 kW DC at the break, to cover a second shift or peak loop.
• Single-phase 7 kW only as backup: 15-20 hours to full is too slow for primary use.
• Smart load management to spread available kVA across the fleet and avoid peaks.

Battery Sizing and Usable kWh

Sizing is straightforward: daily km multiplied by real yard consumption. Internal-logistics duty with regen is roughly 0.55-0.75 kWh/km once frequent stops recover energy, so an 80-150 km day draws 45-110 kWh. The 98 kWh standard pack covers a single-shift 150 km day with margin; the 131 kWh extended pack covers two shifts or colder-climate degradation. Specifying the larger pack purely for rare peaks wastes capital — match the battery to the 95th-percentile day, not the worst case.

Payload Trade-off Versus Diesel

Every battery adds mass that a diesel tractor does not carry. The i5's 98-131 kWh LFP pack weighs roughly 600-800 kg versus the diesel's fuel-and-tank mass of 150-300 kg, a net penalty of 400-600 kg against payload. For internal logistics with typical 2-5 t loads, this is rarely limiting — the i5 still carries a full 4.2 m box load. Where the diesel yard tractor was overloaded anyway, the i5 actually enforces a legal, consistent payload because its GVW is fixed and visible. The trade-off is real but, in practice, smaller than the operating savings it unlocks.

Noise and Emissions Inside the Shed

The decisive advantage of the i5 indoors is the environment it creates. Zero tailpipe emissions remove diesel particulate and NOx from a space where workers spend entire shifts, supporting occupational-health targets and indoor-air rules. At near-silent creep speed the truck is heard only as a faint tyre hum, which also improves pedestrian safety because workers can hear warnings and verbal calls. For plants adjacent to residential zones, night-shift transfer becomes possible without noise complaints that routinely block diesel yard work after 22:00.

Route Planning and Driver Behaviour

Electrification rewards discipline. Setting regen to Level 3 (strong) in dense dock areas recovers the most energy and lets the driver operate one-pedal through the loop. Smooth acceleration — easy given the instant torque — avoids needless kWh draw, and a fixed loop plan prevents the "just one more trip" that strands a diesel but ranges an EV. Telematics on the i5 can flag any truck drawing above its energy budget per km, turning driver behaviour into a measurable, coachable metric rather than a guessing game.

Total Cost per km Versus Diesel

The financial case rests on energy, maintenance, and brake savings against a higher acquisition price. At an internal electricity tariff of USD 0.04/kWh and diesel at USD 1.10/L, the i5's energy cost is about USD 0.036/km versus USD 0.14/km for a comparable diesel — a 74% reduction. Maintenance is lower because there is no engine, clutch, or multi-speed gearbox to service. Over 150,000 km the i5 breaks even against diesel near 80,000 km, after which it saves roughly USD 0.08/km.

Grid Capacity and Charger Installation Checklist

A depot must plan power before the trucks arrive. For a 10-truck i5 fleet on overnight 22 kW AC, budget a 3-phase 400V supply with at least 250 kVA transformer headroom, plus a load-management controller so all ten chargers never pull simultaneously at peak. DC fast charging costs more per installed kW but needs fewer units because trucks rotate through them. The practical checklist is short:

• Survey available kVA at the depot; size transformer for 1.2x planned peak draw.
• Run 3-phase to each AC charge point; use a managed controller to balance load.
• Place DC chargers where trucks naturally dwell (break area, wash bay).
• Install cable management and weatherproof enclosures rated for yard use.
• Confirm off-peak tariff window with the utility and schedule charging to it.

Security, Telematics, and Shift Handover

Yard EVs concentrate value in the battery, so a simple geofence and immobiliser on the i5 prevents a truck from leaving the plant perimeter, and telematics report state-of-charge to the control room so no unit is sent on a loop it cannot finish. Shift handover should include a battery-state note: the outgoing driver records kWh used and any fault code, and the incoming driver starts from a known baseline. Because the i5 has no engine oil or clutch to check, the pre-shift inspection collapses to tyres, lights, and charge level — a two-minute routine that nonetheless catches the issues that strand diesel tractors.

Total Cost of Ownership Reality Check

The headline saving is energy, but the durable advantage is maintenance predictability. A diesel yard tractor's cost spikes with injector and turbo failures that are hard to forecast; the i5's drivetrain has roughly 60% fewer moving parts, so the maintenance line becomes a steady, small number rather than an occasional four-figure surprise. Plants that track this find the i5's total cost per km drops below diesel not at the modelled 80,000 km but often sooner, because real diesel maintenance in dusty yards runs above book figures while the EV's stays flat.

Conclusion

For factory internal logistics the SAGMOTO i5 is less a green experiment than a sound operational upgrade. Its 80-150 km daily range, instant torque, and regen-driven efficiency match the yard duty cycle precisely, while eliminating diesel exhaust and noise from the workspace. The higher sticker is recovered inside three years through energy and maintenance savings, and the depot charging requirement is modest and predictable. For plants targeting cleaner, quieter, and cheaper internal movement, the i5 deserves a pilot fleet before a full conversion.