DHL Teams With Filter Manufacturer To Release First 'Emission Neutral' Vehicle
Electric vehicles are already a great alternative that eliminates harmful emissions in our environment, but DHL wants to step things up. Teaming with a filter manufacturer, they're removing dust particles created from tires, brake systems, and the road.
Updated May 28 2019, 5:13 p.m. ET
Powering electric vehicles with renewable energy is better for the environment than opting for fossil fuels, but there’s more awful emissions they give off than just carbon dioxide. Particles from tires and brake systems can leak into the air, which limit them from being fully neutral. One delivery service is equipping their vehicles with filters to remove these particles in the air.
Announced back in April, Deutsche Post DHL was successfully able to add 5,000 electric vehicles to their fleet by the end of 2017. Created by a manufacturing subsidy, StreetScooter, these WORK and WORK L models have already showed signs of progress. Maintenance costs have been up to 80 percent lower and 16,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide emissions have been saved when compared to traditional delivery vans.
While these vehicles already mark down great achievements, further improvement can be done in terms of removing particles that are released into the air from tire and road abrasion. After all, these delivery trucks start and stop often throughout their delivery routes. They’ll be teaming up with MANN+HUMMEL, a global filtration manufacturer, to accomplish this feat.
Five StreetScooter EVs will be equipped with these special filters and monitored while they’re on delivery routes in German cities. Data from the efficiency it’s able to reach, concentration of particles in the air, and weather information will all be recorded for analysis. Tens of thousands of people die from the effects of these particles in the air in Germany alone annually, and Stuttgart even issues “fine dust alarms” when conditions are rapidly deteriorating.
“With these new fine dust particle filters from MANN+HUMMEL, we can further improve the environmental performance of our StreetScooters,” Achim Kampker, CEO of StreetScooter, said in a press release. “We are pleased to participate in this field trial and to pioneer what will become a major trend.”
StreetScooters that have a filter wouldn’t pick up the dust particles it creates themselves. Instead, it will attract what’s in the air already and remove what the vehicle would end up generating, creating the neutral performance. Ludwigsburg mayor Werner Spec praises the companies involved, believing that a solution like this is better than instituting driving bans.
DHL recently announced the beginning of their two-year electric truck testing process in the Berlin metropolis by launching two FUSO eCanter vehicles. These all-electric freight trucks check in at 7.5 tons, yet still provide very low emissions and noise pollution in the urban environment. They have a range of just over 60 miles per charge and will focus on first and last mile services in the transportation process.
The delivery service has established a GoGreen campaign that aims to reduce their carbon emissions by 50 percent by 2025. They hope to reach a level of zero emissions by 2050. Testing out technological advancements like the filtering system continues their solid approach to making large delivery trucks greener for the environment.
