DHL Express France clears the air with electric vehicle expansion

DHL Express France is reinforcing its commitment to developing und using clean trucks byintegrating 20 electric vehicles into its fleet in the next 18 months with the aim to extend the

To achieve this ambitious goal, DHL France has increased its field tests with trials of several100% electric vehicles since the beginning of the summer, such as the “Mooville” deployed in Junefor urban deliveries or the “Colibus” operating in the city centre of Toulouse in the beginning ofJuly.

Michel Akavi, the new DHL Express France CEO, explained: “DHL Express is committed to rapidlydeveloping a large fleet of clean vehicles. In France, we are conducting numerous tests in thisfield and we are the first to deploy tricycles for downtown deliveries.”

In 2011, DHL Express ensured parcel transportation via tricycles in urban areas including nineFrench cities: Bordeaux, La Rochelle, Lyon, Montpellier, Nice, Orleans, Rennes, Toulouse and mostrecently Strasbourg. Thus, nearly 103,000 parcels were delivered by tricycles in these cities, withnearly 73,000 km covered and more than 6,500 litres of fuel saved avoiding nearly 16,500 tonnes ofgreenhouse gas emissions.

DHL Express has been a pioneer in using tricycles for distribution in city centres. These cleandistribution modes offer easy access to downtowns avoiding problems related to the movement ofmotorised vehicles, such as traffic jams or traffic restrictions. They also enable timelydeliveries thanks to their small size as they fit easily into small alleys and stop easily to makedeliveries thus rapidly accessing downtown customers, mostly shops, banks and servicecompanies.

“We are always on the lookout for new ideas enabling us to offer our customers timely deliverieswhile respecting the environment. To serve our customers in London during the Olympic Games thissummer, for example, we turned to running couriers crisscrossing the British capital on foot and bypublic transport. These initiatives are part of DHL Group’s programme GoGreen, which aims to reduceoverall CO2 emissions by 30% by 2020 compared to 2007,” Akavi added.