DHL Introduces 13 New Electric Trucks for City Logistics in Berlin

(Bonn) The trucks, which are significantly more energy-efficient and quieter compared to conventional “combustion trucks,” will be used to collect letters and packages from major customers and branches of Deutsche Post in the Berlin city area and transport them to the Berlin letter and package centers. These electric trucks will also bring shipments from these production sites to the delivery hubs, from where they will subsequently be delivered to customers by postal and package deliverers.

The trucks of the type Volvo FL Electric 4×2 are two-axle vehicles with a permissible total weight of 16.7 tons, up to 130 kW of power, and a range of up to 300 km (manufacturer’s specifications). Charging occurs overnight at DC charging stations from suppliers Elexon and Ecoenergetyka, among others, on the premises of the Schönefeld letter center. With an AC charger, it takes about nine hours to fully charge the batteries. With a DC charger, the charging time is reduced to about two hours. 95 percent of the electricity at Deutsche Post is green electricity.

Volker Wissing, Federal Minister for Digital and Transport: “More and more models of climate-friendly commercial vehicles are coming onto the market and becoming increasingly competitive. As a German company with global influence, Deutsche Post DHL is taking the lead and relying on electric trucks. In general, we are seeing an increase in the number of companies that want to contribute to climate protection. This is also reflected in the great success of our funding program for climate-friendly commercial vehicles and infrastructure. In the current funding round, we are putting around 7,000 climate-friendly commercial vehicles on the road and supporting about 1,000 companies – not just from the logistics sector.”

700 Million Euros for Alternative Drives

Nikola Hagleitner, Board Member for Post & Parcel Germany at DHL Group, emphasizes: “The acquisition of the electric trucks is a good example of how Deutsche Post DHL is significantly investing in electromobility and other alternative drives in Germany. In 2022 alone, we spent around 700 million euros on electromobility, as well as on CO₂-neutral operational sites – an additional 500 million euros are planned for this year. We are pleased that the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport is financially supporting our transition to environmentally friendly modes of transport. At the same time, we hope that the upcoming amendment to the Postal Act will allow us to continue on the path towards climate neutrality and to provide the comprehensive postal universal service further.

In addition to the 13 electric trucks in Berlin, Deutsche Post DHL is deploying 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 shipments between letter and package centers. By the end of 2023, there should be around 350 of these trucks. Additionally, there are more than 24,000 electric vans for the delivery of letters and packages. This makes Deutsche Post DHL the operator of by far the largest fleet of alternative drives in road traffic in Germany.

120 Million Packages on the Rails

As part of its sustainability program, Deutsche Post DHL invested a total of 700 million euros in electromobility and green infrastructure in 2022. In 2023, an additional 500 million euros are currently planned, subject to possible regulatory adjustments through a new Postal Act. The financial resources are not only going into the fleet but also into the renovation and construction of climate-friendly operational sites, such as CO₂-free delivery hubs with photovoltaics, heat pumps, and building automation. Currently, there are about 100 of these, and by 2025 there should be 280. Furthermore, about 6 percent of packages are transported via environmentally friendly rail. This corresponds to around 120 million packages per year on the rails – far more than any other parcel service provider transports this way. In the long term, this share is to be increased to 20 percent. And with new “GoGreen Plus” products, the company offers customers the opportunity to actively manage and reduce their CO₂ emissions generated during transport and specifically choose climate-friendly rail transport.

Fotos: © Deutsche Post DHL Group