EVwire brief: Swiss retailer OTTO'S is replacing its entire truck fleet with 22 battery-electric Mercedes-Benz eActros 600 trucks, which will handle deliveries to its more than 140 stores across Switzerland.
Each truck can travel more than 500 kilometers (311 miles) on a single charge. According to OTTO'S, that is enough to cover roughly four out of every five of its daily delivery tours, all of which start from the company's headquarters in Sursee, in the canton of Lucerne.
CEO Mark Ineichen explained why the trucks fit the way OTTO'S runs its logistics:
"Around 80 percent of all daily transport tours lie within this distance. Since the trucks complete two to four tours a day and regularly return to the headquarters in Sursee, they can be charged efficiently there and prepared for their next deployment."
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Charging happens at that Sursee depot, and most of the power comes from the photovoltaic system on site at the headquarters. OTTO'S also feeds electricity from the solar installations at its stores into its own company grid, where it can be used to run the charging infrastructure.
The bodywork came from Swiss vehicle builder Lanz+Marti, which built all 22 trucks on the eActros 600 chassis. The order also included two-axle trailers with plywood box bodies, so the eActros can run as road trains with a drawbar trailer in tow.
Ineichen called the switch a milestone for the company's logistics:
"With the complete electrification of our truck fleet, we are reaching an important milestone in the further development of our logistics. At the same time, we are creating the conditions to continue supplying our stores efficiently, reliably and in a resource-conserving way in the future."
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Context:
OTTO'S joins a growing list of European companies moving their trucking operations from small electric pilots to full fleets. H.Essers, for one, recently added 20 MAN and Mercedes-Benz e-trucks, bringing its electric fleet to 31 while expanding charging capacity at its Genk and Bergen op Zoom sites to 2.7 MW. Closer to home for OTTO'S, Swiss logistics firm Käppeli turned its 2019 Tesla Semi pre-order into an official order at IAA Transportation 2026, with the truck expected to join its fleet in 2027.
Mercedes-Benz Trucks, meanwhile, has been placing the eActros 600 with some of Europe's biggest fleets. Amazon took delivery of its first 27 eActros 600 trucks in Germany in September, part of a 200+ unit order that is the largest electric truck deal in Amazon's history.
Source: OTTO'S press release, Lanz+Marti on LinkedIn, Mercedes-Benz Trucks
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