Bonn leads way as carbon-free city

Deutsche Post DHL is switching to electric vehicles for its delivery services in Bonn and the surrounding region, making the city the first location in Germany with a carbon-free vehicle concept.

In the initial phase, 79 vehicles will be put into service by the end of the year in Bonn and the surrounding area for the parcel delivery and the combined mail and parcel delivery. The pilot project sees about 141 electric vehicles on the road by 2016, resulting in decreased CO2 emissions of over 500 tons per year. Even at the start of the project, Bonn will already be host to one of the world’s largest fleet of electrically powered commercial vehicles for combined delivery.

“This pilot project is unique worldwide and can serve as a role model for other cities and regions,” said Frank Appel, ceo Deutsche Post DHL . “As the world’s leading logistics company, we operate one of the world’s largest vehicle fleets. And because we see the effects of global trade on the environment, we accept responsibility: alternative drive systems have already been in use in our fleet for years.”

Deutsche Post DHL is a partner in many alternative drive technology pilot projects and is working with many major automobile manufacturers, helping to gain important insights for the refinement of new technologies. In 2011 it also began to develop a dedicated electric vehicle; the vehicle was developed for mail and parcel delivery in cooperation with StreetScooter GmbH and institutes at the RWTH Aachen University.

The “StreetScooter” is an electric vehicle with a range of up to 120 kilometers (neatly accommodating the daily postal routine  of around 80 km). An initial production run of 50 vehicles will be delivered starting in summer of 2013. Twenty vehicles will be put into service in the pilot project for carbon-neutral delivery in Bonn and another 30 will be used throughout Germany to transport mail and parcels.

“The pilot project in Bonn has model character. Focusing on city deliveries, we can lower both environmental and noise pollution, and we will be able to reduce our fuel consumption. As we operate one of the largest vehicle fleets in Germany, we have a particular interest to utilize innovative and eco-friendly vehicles. I am especially pleased that we can make use of our own electric vehicle in the project,” said Jürgen Gerdes, corporate board member MAIL at Deutsche Post DHL.

The investments in alternative drive technologies and reduction of CO2 emissions are part of the group-wide GoGreen program at Deutsche Post DHL. The programme includes a specific CO2 efficiency target: a 30% improvement by 2020 in its CO2 emissions compared with the 2007 baseline. The company is already halfway to achieving its CO2 goal with an efficiency increase of 16%.