Quiet and emissions-free driving in the city: Vito E-Cell vans cover 650,000 km in customer use
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Stuttgart/Berlin – Quiet,
emissions-free and
practical – 100 battery-driven electric
Mercedes-Benz Vito E-CELL vans
have proven their worth in customer use in
Berlin and Stuttgart. The
world’s first van fitted with an electric
drive system ex factory has
been taking to the roads in the German capital
since autumn 2010, and in
Stuttgart since the beginning of 2011. The two
projects, each with 50
Vito E-CELLs, are intended to run over a period
of four years. The final
reports scheduled for the end of the
promotional period indicate a
positive result: the Vito E-CELL is ideally
suited to use on inner-city
routes. The vehicle has made the vision of
emissions-free driving in
commercial traffic a reality. A total of 230
Vito E-CELL vans are now in
use in several model
regions.
Automotive industry,
commercial enterprises, energy suppliers and
policy makers in successful
collaboration
The projects serve to demonstrate how
the
automotive industry, together with commercial
enterprises, energy
suppliers and policy makers, can work together
to provide crucial
impetus to advance electric mobility in
Germany. The German Federal
Ministry for the Environment and Nature
Conservation is lending its
support to the Electrification of Mercedes-Benz
Small Vans in
Development and Production project (EMKEP) in
Berlin. In Stuttgart, the
Integrated Concept for Sustainable Electric
Mobility project (IKONE) is
being funded by the German Federal Ministry of
Transport, Building and
Urban Development. The two promotional
initiatives are part of the
German federal government’s second economic
stimulus package.
Intelligent charging
technology utilises green
electricity
Mercedes-Benz and energy suppliers
Vattenfall
(Berlin) and EnBW (Stuttgart) have begun the
implementation of new
technologies in vehicles and their charging
systems at both locations.
The energy suppliers, for instance, have now
provided charging stations
to operators at their depots. The batteries of
Vito E-CELL vans are
recharged at these locations outside of
operating hours.
Intelligent charging technology is
used, based on
the Smart Charge Communication Unit (SCCU) in
the Vito E-CELL. The
technology optimises the CO2 balance of the
vans with certified green
electricity, or even surplus wind energy
(“Wind-to-Vehicle/W2V”). The
charging technology can also be programmed to
lower electricity tariffs
to impact operating costs favourably. Where
operators use several Vito
E-CELL vans, the charging procedures are graded
through a process of
local charge management (LLM, in German:
Lokales Lastmanagement) to
ensure that the grid capacity is not
overextended.
Highly diverse areas of
application
Mercedes-Benz delivered the first
vehicles for
field testing to testing partners in Berlin at
the beginning of
September 2010, and in Stuttgart in January
2011. The areas of
application are highly diverse: courier,
express and package service
providers (KEP, in German: Kurier-, Express-
und Paketdienstleister),
plant transportation in large corporations,
service vehicles for plant
maintenance, customer service, and assembly and
internal transport
within companies. The varied topography was a
key factor in the
selection of the regions. In contrast to the
largely flat terrain of the
greater Berlin area, the differences in
elevation within the Stuttgart
metropolitan area are as much as 350 meters,
which presents a real
stamina test for the range, recuperation
performance and drive
properties of the Vito E-CELL.
All-round positive assessment
of Vito E-CELL van in daily use by customers
and drivers
In both regions, the drivers’
assessment of the
Vito E-CELL has been highly positive.
Characteristics of drive
performance, tractive force, steady
acceleration without shifting gears
and continuous braking were all rated
favourably. Drivers also praised
the quiet running. The sole drawback of a quiet
drive system is that
other road users do not always hear the van
approaching; according to
driver opinion, this necessitates increased
attentiveness and an
especially anticipatory driving
style.
Range typically not exploited
to the full
Initial concerns regarding a too
limited range
were not substantiated in practice. The
vehicles proved capable of
covering at least 80 km on a full battery
charge, including in winter,
which in most cases is a sufficient range.
Specifically, this concerns
KEP applications with fixed routes, trade
companies, supply and
municipal companies, and general use within the
inner-city environment
and within corporate facilities. In a survey
conducted during testing in
Stuttgart, for example, drivers rated the
range of the Vito E-CELL as
either good or satisfactory. The fact that the
challenging topography of
the region fails to limit the on-the-road
capabilities of the Vito
E-CELL was one of the key findings in field
testing.
The charge level of the batteries is a
key
indicator of range. In Berlin, for instance,
this typically fluctuated
between 95 and 25 percent of available
capacity. This indicates that the
maximum range of the Vito E-CELL is seldom
fully utilised.
Comparatively short charging times of between
one and three hours are
thus the norm in both
regions.
Top speed sufficient, drivers
highly motivated
The speed of the Vito E-CELL is
electronically
limited to 89 km/h to preserve a maximum range.
This allows the vans to
be driven with ease within the flow of truck
traffic on occasional trips
on the autobahn. Often, the maximum speed is
not reached: in Berlin,
for instance, only 30 percent of electric vans
were reported to reach
top speed on a daily basis. Analyses revealed
that, in most cases, the
speed of the Vito E-CELL did not exceed 55 km/h
in both cities. Speeds
were largely in the 15 to 30 km/h
range.
Technical design of the Vito
E-CELL
The Vito E-CELL is based on the
mid-length Vito
panel van. With a load capacity of up to 900 kg
and an unmodified usable
load compartment, the Vito E-CELL is suitable
for commercial
applications without any restrictions. The
bodywork as such remains
unaffected.
The electric engine, power
electronics, converter
and AC/DC charger are housed beneath the
bonnet. The electric engine
develops 60 kW, with a peak torque of 280 Nm.
The power is transferred
to the front wheels. The high-performance and
durable lithium-ion
traction batteries are located beneath the load
compartment floor. The
nominal voltage is 360 V, with a capacity of 36
kWh.
The maximum speed is limited to 89
km/h to
maximise the range, which according to NEDC is
around 130 km. This
enables the Vito E-CELL to keep pace with the
flow of truck traffic on
the autobahn. The vehicle accelerates quickly
from 0 to 50/80 km/h in
just 6.5/11 seconds.
Power supply is via charging stations
at fleet
depots. The batteries of the Vito E-CELL are
charged at a mains voltage
of 380/400 V, a process that takes a maximum of
six hours. Later,
charging will also be possible at a mains
voltage of 230 V. Furthermore,
the batteries are also charged while the
vehicle is under way, through
recuperation, in which brake energy is
converted into power. Back-up for
the Vito E-CELL during the two field tests was
provided by the local
subsidiaries. Like all Mercedes-Benz vehicles,
the Vito E-CELL is also
fully integrated into the Star Diagnosis
diagnostics system.
Fully fledged safety features,
successful crash tests
In contrast to other electric
vehicles, the Vito
E-CELL is equipped with fully fledged safety
features, including ESP.
Additionally, the batteries themselves are
protected by a crash element.
If the airbag is triggered, the high-voltage
technology is disabled
automatically. The Vito E-CELL has impressively
demonstrated its high
safety standards in crash tests.
Numerous awards for the Vito
E-CELL
The Mercedes-Benz Vito E-CELL has been
awarded
numerous distinctions by many independent
panels, including the “Postal
Technology International Award 2010” and
“Green Commercial Vehicle of
the Year” award. In 2011, the Vito E-CELL was
awarded the “Alternative
Drive Systems” innovation prize in the “KEP
Van of the Year” event, the
“Baden-Württemberg Environmental Technology
Prize” and the Design Award
at the Michelin “Challenge Bibendum”, one
of the world’s largest forums
for sustainable mobility.
400 Vito E-CELL vans in 2011,
further model variants
The greatest distinction achieved by
the
Mercedes-Benz Vito E-CELL is the demand for the
vehicle among customers.
In 2011, Mercedes-Benz manufactured some 400
Vito E-CELL vans in its
Vitoria plant in the Basque region in Spain.
There, the Vito E-CELL is
manufactured on the same assembly lines as all
other Vito vans. This
professional standard of manufacturing is a
crucial factor for
acceptance among commercial
customers.
Mercedes-Benz Vans has produced a
series of 2000
E-CELL vehicles since 2011. The popularity of
the electrically driven
van is set to receive a further boost with
additional model variants for
even greater practice- and customer-oriented
purposes. Since the Vito
E-CELL has an EU type approval, no monitoring
organisation assessment is
required for licensing within the EU, and
special directives for
high-voltage technology are also not
applicable.
Meanwhile, field testing continues in
Berlin and
Stuttgart. The vehicles are designed for four
years of use, with a
distance of up to 80,000 km per vehicle. Owing
to the high levels of
demand and acceptance experienced, it proved
possible as early as the
testing phase to deploy additional vehicles in
other model regions of
Germany. A total of 230 Vito E-CELL vans have
taken to the road as part
of the promotional initiatives, with a distance
of approximately 650,000
km covered to date. Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz
is preparing to deploy the
Vito in other regions of Germany, and in most
western European
countries as well.
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