Premiere for battery-electric yard vehicles
The first fully electric swap body carrier has recently been in operation at DACHSER's Danish branch in Hvidovre near Copenhagen. More of these vehicles are to follow soon for other branches.
The vehicle from the Dutch manufacturer Terberg enables emission-free transport of swap bodies and semi-trailers in the transit termnal area. This initial delivery is to be followed by further vehicles. "This is an important step for the expansion of e-mobility and thus for more sustainability in transport," says André Bilz, Team Leader Truck & Terminal Equipment. "With the introduction of battery-electric yard vehicles, we have the opportunity to save direct greenhouse gas emissions."
The electric swap body carrier, called Terberg BC202-EV, is equipped with two battery packs of 74 kW each, bringing the total storage capacity to 148 kW. This means it can theoretically operate for more than eight hours on a single charge. At the Hvidovre branch, the vehicle will operate 41 gates and move up to 200 swap bodies and semi-trailers around the site every day. Appropriate charging infrastructure has already been set up on site to fuel the growing e-fleet with green electricity. "The challenges in expanding e-mobility do not lie primarily with the vehicles, but rather on the part of the required charging infrastructure," says André Bilz. "We need to develop suitable charging concepts for how we can operate battery-electric vehicle fleets in the future." Appropriate solutions are currently being developed at DACHSER as part of the Idea2net Climate Protection project together with the Construction & Real Estate and Research & Development divisions.
Deployment of 27 electric yard vehicles planned in Germany
The delivery of the first fully electric swap body carrier follows a lengthy collaboration with the Terberg company. Back in 2012, the first test runs with a battery-electric tractor took place at DACHSER's Herne and Hamburg locations.
In Germany, DACHSER benefits from the "Climate-friendly Commercial Vehicles and Infrastructure" funding program of the Federal Logistics and Mobility Office. This is intended to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through the use of alternative drives and fuels in road-based freight transport. The federal government provides grants for this purpose, including for the purchase of light and heavy commercial vehicles with alternative, climate-friendly drives. "We have already applied for 27 battery-electric yard vehicles from the manufacturer Terberg for various branches in Germany as part of the 'Climate-friendly commercial vehicles and infrastructure' subsidy program, and some have already been approved," says Bilz.
