Frank Willemelis, Fuhrparkmanager der Rhenus High Tech; Dennis Bullinger, Standortleiter der Rhenus High Tech Stuttgart; Prof. Dr.-Ing. Krzysztof Rudion, Leiter Fachgebiet Netzintegration Erneuerbarer Energien der Universität Stuttgart und Charlotte Wagner, Projektverantwortliche der Universität Stuttgart. Bildquelle: Rhenus Gruppe
Rhenus High Tech, one of the market leaders for technical distribution, is taking part in the REALIST research project to electrify urban delivery traffic in Stuttgart. Research is being carried out together with the University of Stuttgart and the City of Stuttgart in a two-year feasibility study and in practical tests with electric trucks in real everyday logistics operations. Rhenus High Tech is a freight forwarding partner in this so-called real-life laboratory. The first Rhenus High Tech e-truck will start the test phase in mid-August 2024. During the project phase, Rhenus High Tech also wants to test the extent to which downtimes during the installation and insertion of equipment can be combined with the loading of e-trucks in order to get closer to the goal of CO2-neutral deliveries. The project is being funded as part of the City of Stuttgart’s Climate Innovation Fund. Charlotte Wagner, project manager at the University of Stuttgart, knows the unique selling point: “REALIST is characterized by the unique coupling of logistics and the power grid, which leads to economically and technically feasible concepts.”
A project in three phases
The REALIST concept provides for three phases: A feasibility study, practical tests with the forwarding partners and the gradual introduction of the concept to the market. While the feasibility study has been running since August 2022, the practical tests at Rhenus High Tech started in August 2024. The project is not only testing the use of electric trucks. The power supply concept, electric city deliveries, is also being tested in the test area of an industrial zone in Stuttgart. The participating haulage companies are testing a change in their processes with the use of an electric truck.
Rhenus High Tech is responsible for installing the charging infrastructure and procuring and operating an electric truck as part of the real-world laboratory. The company is also providing empirical values and telematics data that will enable optimum deployment planning and monitoring of vehicle performance. A continuous exchange of information between the participants throughout the project ensures that everyone is up to date and works together on the solutions. The findings from the practical tests will serve as the basis for the power supply and logistics concept for electric city deliveries in Stuttgart in the final phase, the gradual market launch of the concept.
