Fruehauf NZ Ltd is proud to announce we are the sole distributor for Sunswap Endurance in New Zealand - solar and battery-powered transport refrigeration with diesel-matching range. Sustainability in every journey.

New Zealand's refrigerated transport operators have run on diesel TRUs for decades, because until now there hasn't been a genuine like-for-like alternative. That changes with Sunswap Endurance — a battery and solar-powered transport refrigeration unit now available in New Zealand exclusively through Fruehauf NZ, the country's leading trailer and truck body manufacturer and Sunswap's sole national distributor.

What Is Sunswap Endurance?

Endurance is engineered, manufactured, and supported by Sunswap, a UK-based electric fridge OEM built specifically to decarbonise refrigerated transport. It does the same job as a diesel TRU — keeping frozen, chilled, and multi-temperature loads at the right temperature, drop after drop — but runs entirely on electricity, drawn from onboard batteries topped up by an integrated solar array and recharged from a standard three-phase power point. No diesel engine, no diesel tank, no tailpipe.

It's trailer-agnostic, fitting standard, long-wheelbase, urban, and double-decker trailers from all major manufacturers without modification, so it slots into an existing fleet the way a diesel unit would. The difference is what's missing: the fuel bill, the exhaust, and a lot of the noise.

Why New Zealand Fleets Are Looking At It Now

Three pressures are converging on refrigerated fleet operators here at the same time. Diesel costs remain volatile and hard to forecast. Major clients — supermarkets, food distributors, FMCG brands — are increasingly asking for supply chain emissions data as a condition of contract renewal. And ageing diesel TRU fleets are becoming more expensive to maintain, with experienced diesel technicians harder to find and retain.

Endurance addresses all three directly: up to 85% lower operating costs than a diesel unit, a documented reduction in tailpipe CO2, NOx, and diesel use per fridge per year, and a 10+ year design life with fewer moving parts to service.

How Endurance Compares to Diesel

Range is the question every operator asks first, and the answer is: comparable. Endurance delivers up to 24 hours frozen, two days multi-temp, and two months chilled — sized to each operator's actual routes and climate using Sunswap Analytics, proprietary software that models ten years of weather data against real trial and route data before a unit is ever built.

Charging uses a standard 32A three-phase Commando socket, the same connector type already common across New Zealand depots, with a full charge taking 3 hours 1 minute (47kWh) or 3 hours 37 minutes (71kWh). The integrated solar array generates up to 86% of the unit's annual energy needs, reducing how often that full charge is even required.

Backed Locally by Fruehauf NZ

Technology is only half the equation — the other half is who's standing behind it. As Sunswap's sole New Zealand agent, Fruehauf NZ brings over a century of design heritage and a nationwide service network to every Endurance unit sold here, the same relationship customers already rely on for trailer sales, service, and parts. Every unit is specified to the operator's own routes and conditions before it's built, not sold off a generic spec sheet.

Is Endurance Right for Your Fleet?

Endurance suits mid-to-large refrigerated fleet operators and 3PLs running predictable, planned, or return-to-base routes — multi-drop urban distribution, regional chilled or frozen freight, and fleets under pressure to document their emissions for a major client. It's also a sound choice for operators planning ahead for electric tractor units, since Endurance runs independently of the truck's engine entirely.

Talk to Fruehauf NZ about a Sunswap Analytics assessment for your fleet, and see exactly what Endurance would look like — and cost — on your own routes.