DHL Group is testing an electric truck that also carries a fuel-powered generator to recharge its own battery, saying the design helps solve the common hurdle to electric vehicle (EV) adoption of a lack of infrastructure supporting long-distance charging networks.
DHL is testing the Extended Range Electric Vehicle (EREV) built by heavy vehicle manufacturer Scania beginning this month for operations by its Post & Parcel Germany division on transport routes between Berlin and Hamburg.
According to DHL, fully electric vehicles are the ultimate solution in a sustainable transport system, but they currently face challenges such as the lack of charging points, the high costs of ensuring enough charging capacity at the depots during seasonal peaks, and the strain on the grid and high spot prices for electricity. The new vehicle—which has been jointly patented by DHL and Scania—helps to overcome these hurdles while enabling DHL to drive 80% to 90% on renewable electricity.
"It is going to take some time before renewable electricity, the grid, and charging infrastructure are available and robust enough to rely fully on battery-electric trucks, especially for a large-scale system like the German parcel network of DHL,” DHL Group CEO Tobias Meyer said in a release. “Instead of waiting for this day to come, DHL and Scania are collaborating on a pragmatic solution for making logistics more sustainable and reduce CO2 emissions by more than 80%. This vehicle is a sensible, practical solution that can make an immediate contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in freight transport short-term.”
The truck is designed by replacing one of the battery packs in a fully electric truck with the fuel-powered generator, thus reducing the range coming from the batteries alone, but providing back-up energy that can be refueled at any conventional petrol station. The EREV vehicle has a possible range of 400 to 500 miles, compared to the 350-mile range of Scania’s fully electric truck model with comparable freight capacity.
"The future is electric, but perfect must not be the enemy of good as we are getting there,” Christian Levin, CEO of Scania, said in a release. “The vehicle we have developed together with DHL is an example of interim solutions that can enhance the scaling of decarbonized heavy transport before the transport system eventually becomes 100 percent electrified. An effective climate transition requires that policymakers accept such solutions, while ramping up their investments in public infrastructure and other enabling conditions."
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