Deutsche Post DHL expands electric fleets in Germany
After Deutsche Post DHL Group presented its sustainability strategy in March, the Group has now given more details on the plans for its Post & Parcel Germany division. This will include 6,500 more StreetScooter vans, 5,000 e-trikes and expanded charging infrastructure.
In March this year, Deutsche Post DHL (DPDHL) announced it was going to increase its efforts to decarbonise the company, earmarking seven billion euros for investments to reduce its CO2 emissions over the next ten years.
The German postal services Group has now announced that at its Post & Parcel Germany division in Germany, the fleet of electric vans made by the Group’s own brand StreetScooter is to be increased from currently more than 15,000 to around 21,500 in the coming year. This has increased from previously mentioned targets of around 20,000 StreetScooters.
A new model will also be added to German fleets. The first prototypes of the StreetScooter Gigabox with a load volume of 12 cubic metres and space for around 240 parcels are to be deployed this year. By 2025, the delivery fleet should then comprise a total of 37,000 electric vehicles, including electric commercial vehicles from established automakers, where available.
The Group’s electric fleet will include increasing the number of micromobility vehicles in its German fleets. By 2025 Deutsche Post also wants to procure another 5,000 e-trikes. Currently, around 8,000 e-bikes and 9,000 e-trikes are in use in Germany.
The company’s electric vehicles primarily play a role in letter and parcel delivery. For longer transport, many long-distance trucks are still on the road between the distribution centres, and only two per cent of the shipments are transported by rail between the distribution centres. In the medium term, Deutsche Post aims to triple this share, with rail transport to be increased to around 20 per cent in the long term.
Deutsch Post DHL says that in order to succeed in transferring a significant amount of transport to rail, a number of hurdles need to be overcome – from fast freight wagons to the availability of new locomotives, better train paths and fast, cost-effective loading options from truck to rail and vice versa.
The expansion of the network of unmanned package stations is also intended to reduce CO2 emissions; by 2023 their number is to increase to more than 12,500. Compared to door-to-door delivery, a Packstation shipment is expected to save an average of 30 per cent CO2 over the last mile – with just one journey, the delivery staff can deliver several dozen parcels.
Deutsche Post DHL has been one of the pioneers in electrifying its fleets. The German Group was one of the founding members of the EV100 initiative back at a time when the company had to manufacture its own vehicles – hence StreetScooter – in order to begin decarbonising its fleets. Now, the company has to adapt the charging infrastructure to support the further expansion of its electric fleet. Deutsche Post DHL currently has over 20,000 charging points. DHL points out that in comparison, there are currently only 40,000 public and semi-public charging stations in Germany overall.
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