Carrier Transicold has launched the second generation of its electric Vector eCool TRU, or trailer refrigeration unit.

It comes with a new battery, a better charging system, and new features that help it create its own power while on the move.

The updated trailer was shown at ExpoCam 2025 in Montreal, with help from Carrier’s local dealer, Nordic Refrigeration.

The system is already available in Canada and the U.S., and it’s built to handle the wide range of weather and long-distance routes that fleets face in this country.

One of the biggest changes is the battery.

The first version used a 30 kilowatt-hour battery.

The new version now has 45 kilowatt-hours — enough to keep things running longer, without making the trailer too heavy.

Sam Roach, North America Associate Director of Sales at Carrier Transicold, shared further insights with Trucknews.com on the first day of Expocam.

He claims that Vector eCool is the only battery-electric trailer TRU that charges while the vehicle is in motion. 

Sam Roach: This is the only TRU electric package that charges in motion. So how this really works is it harnesses what we call the free energy of the road when you’re braking or you’re coasting. We have an algorithm that sets in our in-wheel motors that harnesses electricity so you take your foot off the gas pedal, it starts to harness energy. That energy then is fed into a 45 kilowatt hour battery, which then fuels our electric TRU, thus keeping your goods at temperature.

Since the first version launched in 2022, Carrier has tested the system with national and regional food carriers.

It also took feedback from its own engineers and trials to spec’ the new Vecor eCool.

This all led to changes seen in the Gen 2 version, launched in the middle of 2024.

Sam Roach: We kind of found the sweet spot with the 45-kilowatt hours. So general, broad strokes, you’re looking at around a 10-hour charge time. Obviously, to your point, that can change on what the ambient is, what your set points are, if you’re operating in the desert at 120F degrees, it’s very different than operating in Quebec today at -14C. So some of those can vary, but the overall battery health is what a lot of people ask. We always know that batteries, they don’t like heat and they don’t like cold. So in our battery, we have electric cooled and electric heat. So it’s going to keep that battery right in the sweet spot, so it’s operating at an optimal level.

Another one of the notable improvements is the charging system. Before, the trailer needed two plugs — one for the battery and one for the cooling unit. Now, it only needs one plug to do both jobs.

And it’s using shore power, so you don’t need a secondary charging source, Roach added.

Sam Roach: Most of your fleet yards have access to shore power. You don’t need a DC fast charger or any type of secondary charger. You can just plug it in. It plugs in right in the back of the trailer. As soon as the system recognizes that you’re plugged in, the vector, the actual TRU itself, will run on the shore power as well as it will charge the battery. So, we would tell most fleets when you’re parked at your yard or at a DC, you would plug in that way. You top off the charge on your battery. You also continue to power your Vector so it’s not running your battery down. Although you do have ample, you know, energy stored in your battery, it just helps to protect you. If you’re there for a long time and then, when you’re running, if you’re moving in your vehicle, you are creating electricity.

And like other Carrier diesel or electric units, this trailer connects to  Lynx Fleet system — a telematics platform that lets fleet managers monitor the battery, temperature, charging levels and more, in real time.

Sam Roach: As well as you’ll see at the front of the trailer – when we look up there, we have a battery bank monitoring system that the driver can see out his rear view area.

When it comes to maintenance, Carrier says there is no need for different tech training.

But some of the maintenance cost can be reduced because of the latest specs.

Sam Roach: Our techs at all of our dealership locations are very accustomed to working on Vectors. The difference being is you should see a slightly lower cost because you’re not going to be dealing with belts and some of those, those more wearable items in a classic belt-driven, diesel powered unit. The one analogy I like to use is [that] in a belt drive unit, it’s like turning your light switch on and all the lights in your house go on. And in an electric unit, it’s like turning on individual lights, so components turn on and off as needed. Instead of the system goes on and everything’s on.

Since the launch in 2022, Gen 1 trailers have traveled more than five hundred thousand miles on electricity alone, saving over fifteen thousand gallons of fuel.

In fact, the trailer on display at ExpoCam had just made a trip from California to Montreal, fully loaded, using only electric power. No diesel, no backup.

Right after the show, a major fleet in Quebec began testing the unit for 30 days to see how it performs in local conditions.