june2023 - 21

First impressions
from an EV leader
EVs account for a quarter of DHL's global fleet
of 119,000 assets, so the company is well on its way
to meeting its goal of net-zero emissions by 2050.
Replacing one diesel truck with an EV saves an
average of 100 tons of CO2e per year, according
to the German-based company.
" Over the past 10 years, DHL Supply Chain
has made progress with EVs across most vehicle
sizes, including light duty, yard trucks, and
heavy duty. Thus far, we have been satisfied
with vehicle performance, " noted Stephan
Schablinski, VP of operations excellence for
DHL Supply Chain's GoGreen business, which
focuses on sustainable transport.
Along with meeting emissions, Schablinski cited
several benefits to drivers-quieter operation leading
to flexible night operations, less fatigue so fewer
accidents, and all that torque and acceleration
provided by the electric powertrain. The maintenance
department also comes out as the winners.
" EVs have longer service intervals and lower
maintenance costs because they have fewer parts, "
he noted. " For example, a diesel engine has approximately
200 parts that need to be maintained and
replaced if and when they wear out. An electric
[powertrain] has around 20 parts. "
In North America, half of the logistics company's
yard tractors are electric, though heavy-duty
will be slower to reach that level until various
areas catch up. Schablinski pointed out DHL is
" faced with a host of uncertainties, such as lead
time, supply chain issues, and other factors that
will need to stabilize before organizations can
scale heavy-duty EVs. "
Fleets have many more hurdles to overcome and
questions to ask prior to adopting EVs.
Schablinski said these include:
Ü " Is EV service available close to the operation? "
Ü " Are incentives available and are we eligible? "
» DHL has 119,000 vehicles in its global fleet, with EVs accounting for 25%.
DHL
Ü " Does the incentive timing match the implementation
timeline? "
A fleet must also coordinate across multiple
stakeholders, including the building landlord,
utility and facility managers, charging hardware
and software providers, as well as installers.
" It's also important to consider that everything
needs to happen within a specific and thoughtful
timeline, " he advised. " We don't want the truck to
arrive a year before the EV charging infrastructure
or the other way around, as the clock on
depreciation and OEM warranty starts ticking at
the time of delivery. "
All these challenges are to be expected during
such a massive technology transformation, though,
and the potential is worth the effort, he reasoned.
" Considering what current EV technology
can deliver, the time it takes to implement, and
the cost, EVs are meeting our expectations, "
Schablinski said. " As the technology and overall
EV ecosystem evolve in the future, there is a
significant opportunity to simplify, standardize,
and work through some teething issues that come
with any new and innovative technology. "
After seeing how those 30,000 EVs work in
fleet operations, Schablinski has noted some
room for improvement.
" EV charger cords are limited in length-typically
19 ft. with some up to 25 ft., " he said. " Therefore,
it is important for OEMs to align on a standard
placement for the truck charging ports. If one OEM
places it under the driver door and another places
it farther back, this can lead to a problem, as you
are not able to reach the port to charge the truck. "
His suggestion?
" It would be ideal to have different charge port
options on the front, driver door, passenger door,
and back, " he said. " These small adjustments and
customizations would make a big difference in
terms of ease of use. "
Zero-emission truck (Class 2b-8) deployments
2017-2021
1,973
2022
2010-2022
3,510
6,211
Total number of new medium- and heavy-duty truck sales in 2022
1,186,966 units
Source: CALSTART
» Half of DHL's yard tractors are now
electric, like this one from Orange EV.
DHL
June 2023 | FleetMaintenance.com
21
http://www.FleetMaintenance.com
june2023

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