PowerFlex Systems Inc. has installed 415 electric-vehicle charging ports across the US for DHL Express, as the logistics giant electrifies its fleet of bright yellow delivery vans.
(Bloomberg) — PowerFlex Systems Inc. has installed 415 electric-vehicle charging ports across the US for DHL Express, as the logistics giant electrifies its fleet of bright yellow delivery vans.
The deployment comes as the logistics industry grapples with ways to decarbonize a business long based on fossil fuels. DHL’s corporate parent, Deutsche Post DHL Group, has set a goal to eliminate net emissions from its logistics operations by 2050 and aims to deploy more than 80,000 electric vehicles worldwide by 2030.
Based in San Diego, PowerFlex installs and coordinates solar arrays, batteries and electric car chargers for corporate clients. While many public EV charging networks in the US focus on deploying high-speed chargers, PowerFlex recommended DHL use slower “level 2” chargers which, at a total installation price of $6000 to $8000 each, cost far less and place less strain on the electrical grid, PowerFlex Chief Executive Officer Raphael Declercq, said in an interview.
The stakes for the DHL project, he said, were higher than many corporate charging deployments, in which businesses offer EV charging to staff as a perk.
“It’s one thing to disappoint employees because you said you were going to have charging at work and it’s not working one day. It’s another thing to miss a shift for a company like DHL,” Declercq said. “What matters is whether all the vans that day have the energy they need to drive their routes.”
PowerFlex is majority-owned by EDF Renewables North America, part of European utility giant Electricite de France SA.
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