Quiet and emission-free short-radius distribution in Stuttgart: Dachser relies on the battery-electric Mercedes-Benz eActros

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Daimler Press Release  /  May 23, 2019

• Logistics provider Dachser to operate the fully-electric, heavy-duty eActros in and around Stuttgart
• The 18-tonne truck makes deliveries to customers into the city center of Stuttgart and supplies Dachser's microhub in the city's Heslach district
• Daily distance of around 80 kilometres
• eActros is part of the Mercedes-Benz Trucks "innovation fleet" for testing the electric truck in practical operations

Stuttgart / Kornwestheim – Mercedes-Benz Trucks has delivered another locally emission-free and quiet eActros to a customer. International logistics provider Dachser integrates the fully-electric 18-tonne truck into its fleet, where the truck will be tested in regular operations in and around Stuttgart. The official handover of the vehicle took place at the Dachser logistics centre in Kornwestheim near Stuttgart. The eActros is part of the so-called "innovation fleet" from Mercedes-Benz Trucks for practical testing of the heavy-duty electric truck. 

Martin Kehnen, Head of CharterWay Rental & Key Account Management for Germany at Mercedes-Benz Trucks explains: "The eActros has already proven itself in numerous practical operations as a clean and quiet alternative for urban distribution tasks. We are pleased to have teamed up with Dachser for practical testing of the eActros in yet another field of operations. With this, we want to gather valuable insights to help us further develop the vehicle towards series production."   

Clean general cargo transport for the Stuttgart area

Dachser will use the eActros to deliver general cargo -- meaning palletized shipments above 32 kg, which are too large and heavy for regular parcel shipping -- to its customers in Stuttgart's city centre. Additionally, the eActros will also supply the Dachser microhub in Stuttgart's Heslach district with items for last-mile delivery. The loading area of the eActros offers space for 18 pallets.

eActros as a building block for city logistics concept: DACHSER Emission-Free Delivery

"The Mercedes-Benz eActros is an integral component of our city logistics concept ‘DACHSER Emission-Free Delivery’, as part of which we will deliver general cargo locally emission-free, initially within Stuttgart but later also in other inner cities. With this concept, we have won the ‘National Sustainable Urban Logistics Competition’. With a range of up to 200 km, the eActros comfortably covers the required daily distance of around 80 kilometres between our Dachser branch in Kornwestheim and the delivery area in Stuttgart. The batteries will then be charged over night at our depot," explains Stefan Hohm, Corporate Director Corporate Solutions, Research & Development at Dachser.

Since March 2018 two light-duty FUSO eCanter from Daimler Trucks have been in operation with Dachser in Stuttgart and Berlin. The battery-electric 7.5-tonne truck is also a key player in the emission-free vehicle mix at Dachser.

The eActros: sustainable solution for short-radius urban distribution

The eActros is based on the frame of the Mercedes-Benz Actros. Beyond that, the vehicle's architecture has been entirely designed around the electric drive and thus features a high percentage of vehicle-specific components. Two electric motors near the wheel hubs of the rear axle provide for the vehicle's drive power with a respective output of 126 kW and maximum torque of 485 Nm each. Furthermore, the transmission ratio used sees this brought up to 11,000 Nm on each wheel. Performance is thus on par with a conventional truck. Lithium-ion batteries with 240 kWh capacity provide the eActros with the required energy. Depending on the available charging output, the batteries can be charged completely within as little as two hours (at 150 kW).

About the eActros "innovation fleet"

As part of practical testing of the eActros "innovation fleet", the 18 or 25-tonne vehicles are put through their paces by 20 customers from various sectors as part of their regular daily operations. These customers also include global logistics providers such as Dachser, who will be testing the eActros for its suitability for daily operations in Stuttgart over the course of around a year. The tests of this "innovation fleet" consist of two phases, each with ten customers. Insights from these practical tests flow directly into further development of the eActros for series production. The aim is to make clean and quiet distribution in urban areas possible with heavy-duty trucks from 2021 onward. The first eActros has already been in operation with a customer since September 2018.

The development and testing of the heavy-duty electric truck for short-radius distribution operations is sponsored as part of the "Concept ELV²" project to varying degrees by the German Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMUB) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWi).

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