Sunswap opens its new Technology Centre to the industry, and starts talking about what's next

Sunswap, the British manufacturer of electric transport refrigeration, welcomed fleet operators, industry partners and government officials to its new Technology Centre on 7 July for an Open Day on where the cold chain goes next.

The centre, which is four times the size of Sunswap's previous premises, was chosen to support a company that has grown roughly 200-fold in operation since it was founded in the UK in 2020.

But the Open Day wasn't only about the building. It was where guests had an opportunity to hear the Sunswap team set out what comes next for Endurance, and for the cold chain around it.

The day was opened by Helen Maguire MP for Epsom and Ewell, who has raised the decarbonisation of transport refrigeration in Parliament and has been a supportive voice for the industry.

From the stages of Sunswap Endurance's development to an early look at next-generation refrigeration technology Sunswap is developing for future units. The day also gave a first look at where Sunswap's aftermarket services are heading: intelligently catching problems before they become breakdowns, and keeping fleets running with less downtime.

An operator roundtable brought together fleets already running Endurance daily, including DFDS, Noble Foods, Voltloader and Bannister Transport. Sharing what adopting Sunswap’s electric refrigeration has actually meant for their business, from the commercial upside to the genuine enthusiasm it's earned from the people driving it every day.

This was echoed from further afield too, Grant Turner, MD of Protran Solutions, Sunswap's distributor in Australia, said, "The big diesel manufacturers were trying to bolt battery technology onto old designs, and customers weren't interested. Sunswap was different, this was designed from the ground up. We've validated it in 43 degree heat and the harshest conditions Australia can throw at it, and it's outperformed. We've now placed an order for 100 Endurance units."

Michael Lowe, CEO, Sunswap, “We've grown around 200 times since we started Sunswap. This Technology Centre gives us the room to build at the scale the industry now expects from us, and to keep pushing Endurance further.”

"It was fantastic to see so many customers and suppliers join us in Leatherhead. The most exciting part of the day was hearing from the operators already running Endurance, in their own words, about what's actually changed for them”.

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