DB Schenker places major e-truck order with Renault in France
DB Schenker is growing the electric fleet by acquiring 53 E-Tech-D trucks from Renault. The order is Schenker’s largest in France and shall be completed by March 2024. Preparations for the arrival of the 16 and 19-ton trucks are also underway.
DB Schenker expects Renault Trucks to deliver 50 E-Tech-D EVs in a 16-ton layout and the remaining three at 19 tons. Deliveries will commence this September, and Schenker has begun installing charging infrastructure “in 19 metropolitan areas,” which the logistics firm has yet to name. At the same time, Schenker says it will use the new electric trucks for urban, suburban or regional journeys.
According to Frédéric Vallet, CEO of Schenker France, electric trucks are an “integral part” of the company’s portfolio. “We ensure that their share is continually increasing.”
The latest and most significant acquisition in France follows several tests completed at French branches.
The routes will have an average distance of 150 to 200 kilometres per day, which is way within the average 300-km range of Renault’s trucks. The truck maker, owned by Volvo Group, reportedly claimed nearly a quarter of all medium- and heavy-duty e-truck sales in Europe last year. Specifically, it sold 379 E-Tech D models in Europe in 2022, so the Schenker order still seems substantial. In its home market, Renault Trucks sold as much as 75 per cent of heavier electric trucks last year.
It is also not the first time DB Schenker has turned to Renault. At the same time, the logistics operator can be seen shopping a wide variety of EV trucks. The company has already put through orders for the Mercedes eActros, the MAN eTruck, the eTrailer from Trailer Dynamics or the Volta Zero from Volta Trucks, 150 of which are due to arrive at DB Schenker in the course of the year. A total of 1,500 units have been ordered from Volta Trucks.
In addition to the battery-electric vehicles, Schenker is also testing the waters with hydrogen trucks and is testing a Hyzon Hymax 250 and an H2 semitrailer tractor as a 40-tonne vehicle in daily traffic between the Cologne office and Eupen in Belgium.
DB Schenker today affirmed its ambition to be a leading provider of green logistics. In high acceleration, battery-powered electromobility reduces CO2e emissions by more than 90%, according to Schenker. The logistics firm wants to reach CO2 neutrality in urban logistics in Europe by 2030 and targets complete carbon neutrality by 2040.
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