En route to carbon-free road freight transport: DHL Freight introduces fully electric tractor-trailers from Mercedes-Benz Trucks

At the beginning of April, DHL Freight put its first fully electric tractor-trailers from Mercedes-Benz Trucks into service. Effective immediately, the eActros 300 vehicles are being deployed for delivery and distribution transport at the Koblenz and Hagen sites. The truck stationed in Hagen makes transport more sustainable on round trips between the DHL branch and the Mercedes-Benz plant in Kassel, a Daimler Truck location. The second eActros 300 truck makes carbon-free deliveries to customers in the Koblenz area. With a maximum weight of 19 metric tons, these are DHL Freight’s first heavy battery electric tractor-trailers in Germany. In line with the Group’s sustainability strategy, the plan is to increase the share of electric vehicles in the delivery fleet to 60% and that of sustainable fuels within the DHL Group to more than 30%.

“While we always emphasize that decarbonizing transport requires the efforts of all players involved, it is something special when customers themselves supply the technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We are delighted about the partnership with Mercedes-Benz Trucks, which sees both partners taking another step toward attaining their sustainability targets,” says Dr. Thomas Vogel, CEO DACH, UK & IE DHL Freight.

The vehicles are eActros 300 tractor-trailers that are each powered by two electric engines with a peak output of up to 400 kW. The trucks have a range of approximately 220 kilometers and, depending on the charging infrastructure, the battery can be recharged from 20% to 80% in about one hour and 15 minutes at a charging capacity of up to 160 kW.

“Our fully electric eActros 300 tractor-trailers are specially designed for regional distribution transport and are already capable of performing a wide range of conventional truck operations. We are pleased that the eActros 300 is now also helping to make local road freight transport carbon-free in our own site delivery operations,” explains Oliver Berger, network strategy and sustainability manager in Inbound Logistics at Mercedes-Benz Trucks.

DHL is testing and implementing various technological solutions as part of its drive towards more sustainable road freight transport, as no drive type so far has conclusively asserted itself, particularly for long distances. In addition to the fully electric tractor-trailers, for example, DHL Freight recently began operating a hydrogen truck from the commercial vehicle maker Paul Nutzfahrzeuge GmbH. The aim is to not just identify the right engine mix, but also influentially drive the transition to more sustainability in industry.