The Dachser vehicle mix for emission-free deliveries in Stuttgart city center is now complete. Martin Kehnen, Head of CharterWay Rental & Major Customer Management at Mercedes-Benz Trucks Germany, has now handed over the keys to the all-electric 18-ton Mercedes-Benz eActros to Markus Maurer, General Manager of Dachser’s Kornwestheim branch.
As soon as employees have been briefed and completed all the requisite training, Dachser will integrate the eActros into its ongoing test operations in Stuttgart. As with the all-electric 7.5-ton FUSO eCanter, the truck will be used in professional driver training. “We’ll be using the eActros for transporting deliveries both directly to customers and to the microhub in the Heslach district of Stuttgart. From there, pedelecs are used for the last mile,” Maurer explains.
The eActros has a payload of 4 to 5 metric tons, depending on the design, and offers space for 18 pallets. With a range of 200 kilometers, it is ideal for daily delivery transports in and around Stuttgart city center. Its 240 kWh lithium-ion batteries charge in 2 hours at 150 kW. According to the Mercedes-Benz Trucks division, the prototype is set to go into large-scale production in 2021.
Electric vehicle mix for city distribution
With its innovative city logistics concept known as DACHSER Emission-Free Delivery, Dachser is providing emission-free deliveries of groupage shipments in downtown Stuttgart. The company has plans to roll out the concept in other city centers, too. In December 2018, Dachser won Germany’s national competition for sustainable urban logistics, organized by the Federal Ministry for the Environment and the German Environment Agency.
Dachser operates two other types of vehicles with alternative powertrain technologies in Stuttgart, each with its own strengths: maneuverable, electrically assisted cargo bikes, which are used for the last mile, and a compact, all-electric 7.5-ton FUSO eCanter truck, which will also be based in the city center. With the addition of the 18-ton eActros, the all-electric vehicle mix is now complete.
In conducting these test operations, Dachser is gathering the data and experience it needs to determine the right vehicle mix for sustainable deliveries of groupage shipments to city centers. In addition to Stuttgart, tests are also underway in Berlin, Freiburg, Karlsruhe, Cologne, Málaga, Mannheim, Paris, Tübingen, and Ulm.
“We’re not looking to take a one-size-fits-all approach; instead, we want to come up with a range of solutions, each of them focused on optimizing deliveries, routes, and times,” says Stefan Hohm, Corporate Director, Corporate Solutions, Research & Development at Dachser. Holm heads the City Distribution innovation project.
