DHL has successfully delivered 40 electric racing cars, spare parts and lithium-ion batteries to the iconic Tempelhof complex in Berlin, Germany, for the eighth stop of the FIA Formula E Championship on Saturday (May 23).
For the FIA Formula E Championship series, DHL, as the Official Logistics and Founding Partner of Formula E, provides an extensive range of logistics services, incorporating the most efficient and green technology and processes available today to ensure all race equipment required for each location is delivered safely and on time.
The championship is the first global, fully-electric racing series, and is a major undertaking – spanning ten cities in almost ten months and covering a total distance of over 50,000 km. The shipping requirements for the championship amount to about 450 tons per race, which equates to more than 25 freight containers to each location.
Alongside the race cars, DHL ships equipment including about 200 tyres, 20 charging units and 45 batteries to the races. The lithium ion batteries, which weigh 320kg and contain 200kg of lithium ion cells, require specialist handling, packaging and certification in many markets.
To ensure that Formula E’s logistics is sustainable, DHL said it employs modes of transport such as ocean or rail whenever the schedule has allowed, in order to minimise the carbon emissions of the championship. Any emissions generated will then be offset by Formula E through its partnership with FIA Institute and participation in its Carbon Offset Initiative.
“With six winners from seven races, Formula E has already proven that it can deliver thrills on the track. DHL’s role has been to ensure that the championship runs just as successfully off the track and that the organisers can focus on the racing entertainment in every market,” said Ken Allen, CEO, DHL Express.
“With an ambitious agenda for the first season that combines a truly global schedule of races and a commitment to a sustainable future, Formula E poses a special logistics challenge. We at DHL have embraced this challenge, because it allows us to showcase our international transportation network and our unrivalled experience in motorsports logistics, while also helping us to explore and trial green technologies and solutions that could help to shape our industry in the future,” he added.
Alejandro Agag, CEO, Formula E Holdings, added: “For Formula E, it was critical that we worked with a global logistics leader that would help us to deliver our first season flawlessly around the world. More importantly, we also wanted a forward-thinking partner who would embrace our commitment to a sustainable future and work with us to develop a supply chain that minimised our carbon footprint.”
