Deutsche Post DHL yesterday took delivery of its first Iveco Electric Daily at the InternationalAutomotive Show (IAA) in Hanover to kick off a fleet of 10 environmentally-friendly vehicles for
use in Germany next year.Thomas Zuber, head of mail and DHL Parcel delivery, symbolically took the van over from FrancoMiniero, Iveco’s senior vice president sales and marketing, at the automotive show. The 10 vehicleswill be deployed as of 2011 in parcel delivery at various locations in Germany, including Berlin,Bonn, Düsseldorf and Hamburg, for testing purposes.
The company last year ordered 4,500 Iveco Daily vans from the Italian manufacturer for deliverybetween 2009 and 2012 to modernise a larger part of its German delivery fleet of 7,500 vans.
Deutsche Post DHL said it currently uses around 2,700 vehicles that reduce CO2 emissions. Theseinclude for example vehicles with hybrid or electric drives, alternative fuels or evenmodifications for engine electronics and aerodynamics. With Europe’s first 3.5 ton e-vehicle, Ivecohas produced an e-vehicle based on its traditional transporter Iveco Daily.
With the test of the transporter in its operations, Deutsche Post DHL will support the furtherdevelopment of electric drives for use in logistics in order to reduce the currently high costs forthese drives in the medium term, especially for the transporter class and to enable economicviability.
“By deploying Europe’s first 3.5 ton transporter with an electric drive, we are piloting atechnology of the future in our daily business. We hope to be able to provide key insights for thefurther development of alternative vehicles and become the pioneers in the area of climateprotection,” Zuber commented.
“Iveco has long since made a name for itself in developing alternative drives. For over 20years, the company has been testing and producing gas and hybrid vehicles. With its extensivetransport network, Deutsche Post DHL is an ideal partner for testing the vehicles in an operationalsetting,” said John Venstra, Head of Sales and Marketing at Iveco Magirus AG.
E-vehicles are especially suited for driving in towns with more start and stop traffic patternsand a daily travel distance of 40 km. With a reach of 90 km, the batteries in the Iveco ElectricDaily are well sized and can be charged over night at depots or delivery bases.
Since 2008, Deutsche Post DHL has been using green electricity in their bases and officebuildings in Germany, through which the CO2 emissions from Iveco Electric Daily are fully offset.With almost no emission of pollutants and noise, the trucks are very environmentally friendly.Independence from fossil fuels makes the tests with electric drives into an investment for thefuture, results of which will be able to enable production nationwide.
