DHL to add 80 electric vans as part of target for net-zero emissions

Logistics company DHL Express will have an additional 80 electric vehicles (EVs) in its delivery fleet in Singapore by October, bringing the total to 90, out of the 390 delivery vehicles it operates here.

The announcement was made at the EV fleet expansion event at DHL Express' facility at Greenwich Drive yesterday. Transport Minister S. Iswaran was the guest of honour.

The EV vehicle fleet is expected to cover 30 per cent of the company's daily routes.

Mr Christopher Ong, managing director of DHL Express Singapore, said: "By transitioning to electric vehicles, DHL Express Singapore is set to eliminate a total of 323 tonnes of CO2 emissions yearly."

DHL's latest additions are Citroen e-Dispatch vans, which can carry a load of up to one tonne. A fully charged vehicle has a range of up to 339km. For DHL deliveries, the vehicles travel just over 100km daily on their routes.

The 80 vans are on a five-year leasing and maintenance contract with ComfortDelGro Rent-A-Car, a subsidiary of the transport giant.

To support the new EVs, 105 chargers will be installed in DHL's service centres. This is believed to be the largest deployment of EV chargers for a commercial application in Singapore.

The Siemens 7 kilowatt AC chargers are supplied and installed by private charging firm EVOne Charging. The system is able to manage the electric load on the facility's network, enabling DHL to monitor the EVs' energy usage pattern as well as help with allocating charging slots to the vehicles.

By opting for AC chargers instead of the faster but also more energy intensive DC chargers, the installation at DHL's service centres is not expected to require major upgrades to its power supply grid.

Three hours of charging will add approximately 85km of operating range to the vehicle. A full charge for a completely flat battery will take up to nearly 11 hours.

In January, DHL used 10 EV vans in a pilot programme to test the charging capabilities and gain experience with using these vehicles. They consisted of the Citroen e-Dispatch and the electric version of the Renault Kangoo, which has a smaller payload.

A part of Deutsche Post, DHL targets to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. Globally, the company has partnered with fuel suppliers Neste and BP to secure more than 800 million litres of sustainable aviation fuel until 2026.

DHL also wants to electrify 60 per cent of its global last-mile delivery fleet by 2030.

Other major logistic companies have also announced their EV transition plans.

German rival DB Schenker wants to make its transport activities in European cities emission-free by 2030, while American company FedEx is targeting to have an all-electric global pickup and delivery fleet by 2040.

Singapore has also been pushing to electrify more vehicles.

The Land Transport Authority has said that it will electrify half of the country's public bus fleet by 2030. Taxis that run on batteries are allowed to stay in service for 10 years instead of eight.

Businesses looking for commercial vehicles are also incentivised to choose EVs over conventional options.

The Commercial Vehicles Emissions Scheme encourages buyers to opt for lower-emission vans.

While most, if not all, diesel vans will fall into the surcharge banding and are liable for a $10,000 surcharge, an EV alternative can qualify for a $30,000 rebate, which is disbursed to the buyer over three years.