Stuttgart will now test four six-tonne Fuso Canter E-Cell trucks – two with hydraulic tipper bodies for road construction and landscaping, and two with box bodies for municipal furniture transport and waste bin deliveries – over the next 12 months.
Meanwhile logistics giant Hermes – which also recently tested a Mercedes-Benz Vito E-Cell on parcel deliveries in Berlin and Hamburg – is also participating, again using a Fuso Canter E-Cell for urban parcel deliveries.
Hermes has already switched to all-electric deliveries in the centre of London and is also taking part in other pilot projects in Germany.
At the official handover, Stuttgart’s Lord Mayor Fritz Kuhn said that taking the Canter E-Cell trucks is an important test of emission-free light-duty trucks in urban transport.
“Sustainable mobility is a key issue for cities and electric mobility is an important element,” he stated.
“This is where Stuttgart is showing the way,” he continued, adding that the municipality has now decided that all new cars acquired for its fleet will be electric.
“I think this sends out a very strong signal... We’re also very happy to test the four Canter E-Cell in day-to-day city traffic.”
And Dirk Rahn, managing director operations at Hermes Logistics Group Germany, added: “Mercedes and Hermes are united by a long tradition in the promotion of alternative drives,.
“As a pioneer in the industry, we were among the first in the 1990s to test the early electric vehicles under real-world conditions. We are similarly proud today to be using the new electric 7.5-tonne truck for our parcel deliveries.”
“The project is part of our long-term climate protection programme, under which we intend to halve the CO2 emissions of our fleet by 2020.”