Funded by the BMDV, the e-trucks will be used for the environmentally-friendly transport of letters and packages in Berlin.
Deutsche Post DHL, together with the Federal Minister for Digital and Transport (BMDV), Volker Wissing, presented 13 new electric trucks in the capital today. The vehicles and the charging infrastructure were funded under the funding guideline for light and heavy-duty commercial vehicles with alternative, climate-protecting drives and the associated refuelling and charging infrastructure (KsNI) funded by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport, totalling 2.3 million euros. The funding guideline is coordinated by NOW GmbH, with applications approved through the Federal Office for Logistics and Mobility (BALM).
The trucks, which are significantly more energy-efficient and less noisy than conventional combustion engine trucks will be used to collect letters and packages from major customers and from Deutsche Post branches in the Berlin urban area and transport them to letter and package hubs in Berlin. These e-trucks will also bring post from these locations to the delivery bases, from where they will be delivered by postal and package delivery workers.
The Volvo FL Electric 4×2 trucks are two-axle vehicles with a gross vehicle weight of 16.7 tonnes, up to 130 kW capacity, with a range of up to 300 km (manufacturer’s specifications). Recharging takes place overnight at DC electric charging columns supplied by Elexon and Ecoenergetyka on the premises of the Schönefeld postal centre. A full recharge of the batteries using alternating current equipment takes about nine hours. Direct current charging shortens recharging time to around two hours. 95 per cent of electricity used by Deutsche Post is green electricity.
Volker Wissing, Federal Minister for Digital and Transport said: “There are more and more climate-friendly commercial vehicles coming onto the market and they are becoming increasingly more competitive. As a German company with a global profile, DPDHL is now taking the lead and focusing on e-trucks. In general, we are seeing that the number of companies wanting to contribute to climate protection is increasing. This is reflected also in the huge success of our funding programme for climate-protecting commercial vehicles and infrastructure. In the current funding round we are putting around 7,000 climate-friendly commercial vehicles on the road and supporting a good 1,000 companies – and not just from the logistics sector.”
Nikola Hagleitner, Member of the Management Board at Post & Paket Deutschland in the DHL Group, underlined: “The acquisition of the e-trucks is a good example of Deutsche Post DHL substantially investing in electric mobility and other alternative drives in Germany. In 2022 alone, we invested around 700 million euros in electric mobility, and also for CO2-neutral branches. This year, another 500 million euros are planned. We are pleased that the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport is financially supporting our transition to climate-friendly transport modes. At the same time, we hope that the amendment to the Postal Act currently under review will allow us to continue on our path to climate neutrality while continuing to provide universal postal services nationwide.”
In addition to the 13 E-trucks in Berlin, Deutsche Post DHL is using 110 biogas trucks nationwide in regional transport for letters and packages as well as for the so-called ‘main run’, i.e. the transport of post between the postal and package centres. By the end of 2023, these trucks are to number around 350. Furthermore, more than 24,000 electric transporters for delivering letters and packages will be added. This means that Deutsche Post DHL will operate by far the largest fleet of road vehicles with alternative drives in Germany.
More information can be found on the DPDHL website.