Fonterra has launched Milk-E, New Zealand's first electric milk tanker, marking a significant milestone in sustainable transportation for the dairy industry

Content brought to you by Fonterra

Fonterra launched its new electric milk tanker in Morrinsville earlier this week and the man who helped bring it to life couldn't be more proud.

Fonterra's national fleet technical manager Richard Suckling said it was great to see the e-tanker on display after all the hard work behind the scenes.

"It was really exciting to be joined at the reveal by Dr Megan Woods as well as local government, iwi and industry experts to celebrate this significant milestone in New Zealand heavy transport," he told The Country Sport Breakfast's Brian Kelly.

The tanker, named Milk-E by one of Fonterra's farmers, was built by the co-op's Morrinsville workshop, he said.

"They've all done a fantastic job to make this happen … it's definitely a team effort to pull together this electric tanker."

The tanker operated on battery-swap technology, which was currently being installed at Fonterra's Waitoa site.

It took around three hours to charge one battery, which could be swapped out in about six minutes.

"So essentially Milk-E will come in with a full load of milk, unload and then swap the battery … boom and then she's out again," Suckling said.

Milk-E had a range of about 140km on a full charge, but this needed to be tested to determine how many farms it could collect from, Suckling said.

There were other aspects that also needed testing.

"We have a lot to learn from this e-tanker. We'll be looking at a number of factors, including how far it can go, how easy it is to charge, [as well as] maintenance, cost, and, of course, driver comfort and safety."

Fonterra's Waitoa site was ideal for the trial, Suckling said.

"The town has lots of close supplying farms on relatively flat land, which … is perfect for battery, electric vehicles."

The Waitoa site also had New Zealand's largest fleet of electric milk trucks more than 100 years ago, so it made sense that the town was now home to the country's first modern electric milk tanker.