UPS Germany has converted a traditional delivery vehicle (type P80) into an eco-friendlyelectric truck to be deployed in city centres and will test its ‘second life’ over the coming
months.The 7.5-tonne-vehicle is driven by a synchronised electric motor alone and doesn’t generate anyexhaust gas emissions. The original P80 vehicle had a four-cylinder diesel engine with the emissionstandard Euro 2 and was deployed in Bayreuth, southern Germany from 1995 until 2010 where itcovered nearly 500,000 km.
Stefan Schürfeld, General Manager UPS Germany, said: “The conversion of the vehicle is a testfor UPS and an important step to help make electric mobility more attractive in economic terms. Thenew old P80-E must now prove itself in practice. It is the seventh electrically powered deliveryvehicle that we are deploying in Germany and the first one created through conversion of aconventional vehicle. The good maintenance of our vehicles and the aluminum design constructionaimed at longevity enable the second life of P80. The conversion costs were less than buying a newconventional truck of the same magnitude.”
The UPS delivery staff do not have to adapt their working processes to the upgraded P80-E as thedesign structure is changed. The batteries are located under the floor and in the enginecompartment and thus do not affect the loading volume. The cells of the battery can be replacedindividually.
For the conversion, UPS used its extensive know-how with electric delivery vehicles. In Germany,UPS has been operating six smaller electric delivery vehicles (5.5 tonnes), which originated from aBritish manufacturer as new trucks, since 2009.
Overall, the company has been testing innovative vehicles with new technologies for about 70years. UPS has more than 1,900 alternative fuel vehicles worldwide and thus the largest fleet ofits kind in private transportation.
