Deutsche Post is testing the Mercedes-Benz Vito E-CELL

Deutsche Post is expanding its fleet with alternatively powered vehicles and will be testing a total of 15 Mercedes-Benz Vito E-CELL vans from the fall of 2010. The first few vans were presented yesterday at the Mercedes-Benz Branch in Berlin.

"With its battery-electric drive, the Vito E-CELL offers the possibility to reduce CO₂  emissions, pollutants and noise significantly in the future. The joint pilot project of Mercedes-Benz is therefore an important component for our environmental program GoGreen.

Even today, we are able to test the reliability of the Vito E-CELL vans in our mail and parcel delivery service under realistic everyday conditions, thereby helping to ensure that the vehicles will reach market maturity in the medium term and can be manufactured economically," says Joachim Wessels, Member of Deutsche Post DHL's Mail Divisional Board.

The vans drive with battery-electric drives and will be used in the mail delivery service. The day-to-day testing in Berlin and Stuttgart will also be supported by the "Electric Mobility for Economic Transport" Program funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety as well as the "Electric Mobility in Pilot Regions" Program funded by the Federal Ministry for Transport, Building and Urban Development.

The Vito E-CELL meets the technical requirements with regard to range and payload in mail delivery operations and can be used flexibly in a large number of areas. The operational profile involving a great deal of stop-start traffic and a low daily mileage is the ideal scenario for taking advantage of the benefits of electric drives and for checking the vehicles' capability in operational use. The almost complete lack of local emissions will help reduce air and noise pollution levels in inner city areas. Jointly with Mercedes-Benz, the consumption and range will be measured and checked on an ongoing basis in order to promote the further development of electric drives in light commercial vehicles.

The 15 vehicles will be delivered by the end of 2010 and will be fully integrated into operations for a duration of four years. The testing will focus on the performance of the battery technology, the charging behavior and the associated charging infrastructure. The aim is also to reduce the cost of electric drives, which is still very high, and to facilitate their commercial use.

Around the world, approximately 2,500 vehicles with hybrid drives, electric motors and alternative fuels are already in use on behalf of Deutsche Post DHL. Specialized in the logistics industry, Deutsche Post DHL systematically uses hybrid and electric vehicles in its operations. Particularly in the start-stop conditions of urban deliveries, both electric and hybrid vehicles offer huge potential for lowering fuel consumption and CO₂ emissions in a targeted manner. Through the introduction of a systematic concept in CO₂ measurement and CO₂ management, Deutsche Post DHL is decisively expanding its fleet of alternative vehicles and is using modern technologies wherever improvement potentials have been demonstrated. The Group is working with international car manufacturers and suppliers in this area to make the future requirements for green logistics transparent and to develop solutions for an efficient future.

Group-wide climate protection goals

Deutsche Post DHL is not only helping its customers to reduce CO₂ emissions. With its climate protection program GoGreen, the logistics service provider is the first company in the industry to also have set itself ambitious environmental protection goals: By 2020, the Group intends to improve the CO₂ efficiency of both its own business activities and those of its subcontractors by 30 percent. That means reducing the emissions generated for every letter sent, for every ton transported or for every square meter of space used, by almost a third. The calculations will be based on the year 2007. The first step will be to improve the CO₂ efficiency of our own activities by ten percent by the year 2012. As such, the focus will be on optimizing the air and vehicle fleet, on improving energy efficiency, developing innovative technologies, encouraging climate-conscious behavior on the part of staff and on involving customers and subcontractors.