10 green cities – interview with Ville Heimgartner

DPD Switzerland launched its ‘Green Strategy’ concept around two years ago. The goal: zero-emission parcel delivery in at least ten Swiss cities by 2025. Ville Heimgartner, our Senior Innovation Project & Sustainability Manager, reports on our progress.

DPD: 'What has happened over the last two years?'

Ville: ‘The project began when we tested e-vans for the first time in Schaffhausen. Following the successful conclusion of the pilot project, we switched over 75% of all vehicles to electric drives at our depot in Geneva. Soon after, zero-emission parcel delivery was also introduced in Zurich.’

 

DPD: 'What challenges were encountered?'

Ville: ‘We managed to replace all vehicles in Geneva, independently of our contract partners. In other regions, however, it was challenging in that some of our partners have ongoing leasing contracts and the depreciation of their vehicles takes longer. In addition, the electrification of the depot infrastructure is a complex process, as there is not always enough electricity available or the local infrastructure is not designed for such large power demands.’

 

DPD: 'Where is the energy to come from?'

Ville: ‘The electricity used by DPD is 100% renewable, which, up until now, was externally sourced. To contribute to climate protection, we would like to expand our depots with solar energy in cooperation with our partners, and we’re looking for ways to use renewable solar energy locally as a source of fuel for our delivery trucks and e-trucks. We believe that there is great potential in the production of electricity from solar energy. By the way, it’s not just the e-vans that are being charged with renewable electricity. Our general electricity demands are also covered by this, like the sorting machines in our depots. for example.’

DPD: 'How can electricity supply be guaranteed in the future?'

Ville: ‘We’re planning some measures for this. On the one hand, we’re monitoring the latest innovations such as the development of bidirectional charging in order to provide control energy. On the other hand, we’re looking for interim storage solutions with large batteries or hydrogen.’

 

DPD: 'Can you explain what bidirectional charging means?'

Ville: ‘Bidirectional charging refers to electric vehicles which are to be used like power stations. In other words, an electric vehicle is plugged in for twelve hours while being charged, so it’s basically a huge battery capacity. And then it might happen that the vehicle is not driven. In this case, the energy produced can be fed back into the power grid, thus stabilising the energy storage system. This can also solve the challenge of irregular power generation from solar energy, as output is, of course, lower during colder times of year. There isn’t any practical knowledge available yet about bidirectional charging. It’s a research project relating to mobility, supported by the pilot and demonstration programme from the Swiss Federal Office of Energy (SFOE), amongst others. We’re excited about this innovation and are following how it develops.’

 

DPD: 'And how does control energy work?'

Ville: ‘Control energy can also be used to stabilise the power grid. The electricity is either over-produced or under-produced. When there’s too much electricity in the power grid, we are rewarded by acquiring the electricity from the grid. And when there’s not enough electricity in the power grid, we can be compensated for ‘feeding in’ the energy we produce.

 

DPD: 'What are the next steps?'

Ville: ‘We will continue to expand the Zurich region from summer 2022. In particular, we will offer electric deliveries to most of the city of Zurich. In addition to Geneva and Zurich, the e-vans are planned to launch in the key areas of Basel, Bellinzona and Bern this year. The new depot in Bern will also open in autumn 2022. Lausanne, Lucerne, Sursee, Winterthur, Frauenfeld, Wil, Weinfelden and the Zurich surroundings are planned from 2023. And Martigny, Sion, Biel and Sargans will then follow from 2024/2025. Our goal is therefore to have 30% of our Swiss fleet made up by electric vehicles by 2025.’

 

Thank you, Ville, for this update. We can’t wait to see how it all turns out.