Daimler Truck is driving the transformation of the transport industry towards CO2-neutral drive systems and is also relying on e-trucks in its own supply chain. Mercedes-Benz Trucks, with its four production sites in Gaggenau, Kassel, Mannheim and Wörth, is pursuing the ambitious goal of fully electrifying delivery traffic with production material under its own freight responsibility. Delivery traffic in Wörth is to be fully electrified by the end of 2026, with the component plants to follow successively. A significant part of the direct supply chain will thus become locally emission-free. Together with its freight logistics partners, the company is working on gradually replacing the daily deliveries with electric trucks.
The basis for this includes comprehensive route analyses with regard to existing and required charging infrastructure, economic considerations and feasibility studies using test drives. The aim is to transfer all the jointly gained insights into a new sustainable series production process.
Yesterday evening, Daimler Truck received the VDA Logistics Award 2025 for the “Electrify Inbound Logistics” project. The award ceremony took place in Dresden at the Automotive Logistics Forum, an event organized by the German Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) and the German Logistics Association (BVL).
In awarding the “Electrify Inbound Logistics” project, the jury recognized the commitment of the interdisciplinary project team to the outstanding innovation among all applications. No other company has yet implemented the use of e-trucks in this way – and with a tight schedule for integrating its freight forwarders while maintaining cost-effectiveness in the overall cost analysis.
Since the beginning of the project in early 2023, almost 20 percent of the transports directly commissioned by Daimler Truck with production material have already been electrified. So far, the battery-electric Mercedes-Benz eActros 300 and 400 have been used for heavy-duty distribution transport on regional routes. In 2024, around 2 million kilometers were driven electrically on around 40 different routes. The new long-distance eActros 600 electric truck has been in series production at the Wörth assembly plant since the end of 2024 and will in future also be able to cover distances of 500 kilometers[1] without intermediate charging.
The development of the company’s own charging infrastructure ensures that freight companies can charge their e-trucks during waiting and unloading times. At the Wörth site, for example, 15 charging stations have already been installed and put into operation on the plant premises, six of which are fast-charging stations with 400 kW. A total of seven charging stations are currently in operation at the plants in Gaggenau, Kassel and Mannheim and at the associated external warehouses, five of which are 400 kW fast-charging stations. The installation of a further 14 fast-charging stations is planned for 2025.
The charging stations are another example of how the Daimler Truck brand TruckCharge is being used: In order to make e-mobility easy and profitable for its customers beyond the purchase of electric trucks, Daimler Truck launched the new TruckCharge brand in Europe a few months ago. The company is using this name to combine its services related to e-infrastructure and charging of electric trucks, i.e. consulting and infrastructure as well as operation of the electrified depot for freight forwarders but also industrial companies. This documents in total the claim of Daimler Truck to competently shape the transformation of the industry towards e-mobility together with its partners.
[1] The range was determined internally under specific test conditions, after preconditioning with a 4×2 tractor unit with a 40 tons total towing weight at 20°C outside temperature in long-haul operation and may deviate from the values determined in accordance with Regulation (EU) 2017/2400.
SOURCE: Daimler Truck
