Mercedes & Austrian Post test fine particle filters in eSprinters
Mercedes-Benz delivers some results from a real-world trial of eSprinter vans driving for the Austrian Post. The EVs include novel filters designed to reduce fine particle emissions.
Since August, Austrian Post staff has driven the all-electric in Graz daily and now covered nearly 6,400 km on their delivery routes.
Mercedes-Benz Vans uses the trial to test the filter technology developed in cooperation with Mann+Hummel in real-life operations. They introduced the technology in October 2021 on the Sustaineer technology platform. The name Sustaineer is comprised of the terms Sustainability and Pioneer, and Mercedes-Benz Vans aims to look at climate impacts more holistically through this lens. While electric vehicles cause no exhaust emissions, fine dust is created mainly from tyre wear, brake and road abrasion.
The eSprinter vans have fine dust filters on the front module and underbody, near where fine dust comes up, and Mercedes back then expected them to “compensate for emissions by over 50 per cent”. The filters also work in combination with the suction fan already in the vehicle, so they can also filter out fine particles from the outside air at low driving speeds and during the charging process.
As for the test runs in Graz, the eSprinter vans have been in use for almost 60 days and have each filtered around 6.400 milligrams of dust from the ambient air. Mann+Hummel also found the filters are undamaged and without deformation.
The vehicle is further equipped with a sensor that measures the fine particle concentration in the air and can control the filtration performance accordingly. This means the vehicle can also be used as a mobile measuring station, so Mercedes.
Further results from the test operation are expected in mid-2023. The Institute of Energy and Environmental Technology (IUTA) in the German city of Duisburg is providing scientific support for the project.
Austrian Post had moved forward its target to purchase only zero-emission vehicles to March this year. Initially, this step was to take place in 2023, but the progress and developments in the vehicle market enabled the company to move quicker, as reported.
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