Brief description
Due to increasing environmental awareness, many governments and municipalities are formulating goals to increase sustainability of urban logistics. The project ZUKUNFT.DE, funded by the Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI), aims to render last-mile deliveries in the largest German cities emission-free. For this purpose, conventional internal combustion engine vehicles shall be replaced by battery-electric vehicles in the selected regions. In view of the fact that traffic restrictions in metropolitan areas and legal restrictions regarding pollutant emissions are perspectively increasing, it shall be tested whether daily operations can be conducted unimpeded and economically with the new electric propulsion technology.
Project purpose
With the introduction of battery-electric vehicles into last-mile deliveries, it is expected that conventional internal combustion engine vehicles cannot be replaced one-to-one since the new technology typically induces a trade-off between payload and range of the vehicle. Larger batteries reduce volume and weight of the payload, while smaller batteries may reduce the range of the vehicles to such an extent that routes cannot be operated. The current generation of electric vehicles still has a smaller range and smaller payload than the conventional vehicles such that an adjustment of routes or a rescheduling of departure times is necessary. In order to reach the main goal of the project - reducing emissions in metropolitan areas while maintaining economic efficiency in last-mile deliveries, KLU aims at developing models and methods for an optimization of delivery routes in both costs and length meeting the new requirements. In addition, the transferability and scalability shall be analyzed and recommendations for parcel delivery companies shall be deduced.
Subjects
Sustainability, Transport Logistics, Environment
Project partners
Daimler AG, DPD Deutschland GmbH, E-mobil BW GmbH, EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG, Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences, Fraunhofer-Institut für Arbeitswirtschaft und Organisation IAO, General Logistics Systems Germany GmbH & Co. OHG, Hermes Germany GmbH, Hessisches Ministerium für Wirtschaft, Energie, Verkehr und Landesentwicklung, hySOLUTIONS GmbH, Kühne Logistics University (KLU), Stromnetz Hamburg GmbH, UPS United Parcel Service Deutschland S.a.r.l. & Co. OHG, Volkswagen AG, Volkswagen Leasing GmbH
