The vehicle has a box body and is able to travel up to 150 kilometres with a normal load. The branch in Düsseldorf is particularly suitable for these tests because of its central location, as the vehicle only has to travel short distances to final customers. The four-week field trials with the Maxus EV80 are set to save about 720 kilograms of carbon dioxide, in comparison with a diesel vehicle. Similar tests with battery-powered vans have already taken place in Berlin.

Rhenus Home Delivery is particularly strongly committed to the areas of climate protection, renewable energy sources and urbanisation and is meeting its social responsibility,” says Patrick Braune, Sustainability Manager at Rhenus Home Delivery, emphasising the company’s policy.

Numerous vehicles with a CNG powertrain are already part of the Rhenus Home Delivery fleet, which can be operated in a CO2-neutral manner, thanks to using biomethane. Alternative drive systems are set to play an even stronger role in future. “Operational excellence and our employees are the cornerstones of our ongoing development as a company. Alternative and sustainable powertrains and their positive effects on the environment complement these cornerstones and will form our crucial strategic orientation during the next few years,” says Sören Lauenstein, Sustainability Manager at Rhenus Home Delivery, adding his comments.

The Maxus brand is part of the SAIC Motors Group, the largest automobile manufacturer in China and a specialist in the field of electric mobility. “Working in conjunction with Rhenus Home Delivery, we’d like to prove in these field trials that our electric vans are an outstanding alternative to internal combustion engine vehicles, particularly in towns and large cities, and therefore represent an efficient way of expanding fleets,” says Ulrich Mehling, Managing Director of MAXOMOTIVE Deutschland.