Rotrac E2 An award winning Road/Rail Shunter

The Zwiehoff ROTRAC E2, an electrically powered roal/rail shunter won a German environmental ÖkoGlobe award in the concept vehicle category*.

The ROTRAC E2, is distributed in Australia by Melbourne rail engineering specialists, Unique Rail, and was developed in Germany by G. Zwiehoff GmbH in collaboration with Linde Material Handling. 

It can move loads of up to 250 tonnes and can effortlessly pull high-speed ICE trains and freight trains into maintenance sheds or train-wash facilities. By comparison, a diesel-powered shunting locomotive consumes up to 20 litres/hour simply standing still, while the energy consumption of the ROTRAC E2 remains practically zero. 

Unique Rail Managing Director, Fabian Borgonha, congratulated Zwiehoff on the innovative ROTRAC and the environmental award.  He said the innovation from Zwiehoff continued with the recent introduction of a larger model, the ROTRAC E4, with a shunting capacity up to 500 tonnes.

*According to the rules for the concept vehicle category, honours are awarded to “ecologically advanced cars, trucks and two-wheel vehicles” that are not produced in high volumes. Gerd Zwiehoff, CEO of G. Zwiehoff GmbH, was particularly happy: “The award means a lot to us, as ROTRAC E2 is neither a car nor a truck and yet it attracted the attention of the judges. Together with Linde we have introduced electromobility into a sector that previously no one would have associated with electromobility at all. We take this prize as a confirmation to continue thinking outside the box and try out new approaches with our cooperation partner.”