Mercedes-Benz Trucks is starting practical trials for its all-electric heavy-duty eActros truck.
The retail and logistics service provider Hermes is the first of 20 customers in different sectors who will integrate the electric truck into their fleets. Each customer will use a near-series 18 or 25-tonner in their normal operations for one year to test it for day-to-day suitability. The aim is to realise locally emission-free and quiet operation of heavy-duty trucks in cities. The test series is divided into two phases with ten customers each, and covers a period of around two years.
Every type of customer operation will make specific demands on the eActros. Hermes will test a 25-tonner mainly on a 50 km long route between Bad Hersfeld and the Hermes logistics Center in Friedewald, northern Hessia. The route passes through hilly landscape and is covered six to eight times each day. This makes at least one charging process necessary between tours. The range of the eActros is up to 200 km. The vehicle was handed over to Hermes in Bad Hersfeld in September. Further customer handovers will follow before the end of the year.
Stefan Buchner, Head of Mercedes-Benz Trucks: “The practical trials with the eActros are an important milestone on the way to series production. We want to use the comprehensive findings to realise electric trucks that are economically comparable to diesel trucks for inner-city distribution from 2021. Our focus is on the operating range and cost of the batteries, and also on the infrastructure necessary for operations in our customers’ commercial fleets.“
“Naturally we are especially pleased to be handing the first eActros in our innovation fleet to Daimler’s long-standing customer and test partner Hermes,” Buchner adds.
Oliver Lanka, Head of Central Procurement at Hermes Germany: “Electromobility is an essential component of our sustainability strategy. We have set ourselves the ambitious goal of making our deliveries in all urban centres in Germany emission-free by 2025.
Alongside the use of battery-electric vans over the last mile, the gradual electrification of heavy-duty distribution and feeder transport is an important topic for us. We are working together closely with Mercedes-Benz Trucks in this area. Both the technological concept of the eActros and the end-to-end service approach plus the level of advice have impressed us.”
