It’s a million-dollar business that’s causing a stir in the industry: Swiss Post has ordered 703 electric vehicles from the Chinese company Maxus, and the first have already arrived in Austria. This is reported by the Kleine Zeitung.
None of the major vehicle suppliers made the race in the Post tender, but a Chinese manufacturer that has only recently been operating on the Austrian market – under the Denzel umbrella.
Two thirds of the annual order volume
The 703 electric vehicles account for two-thirds of Swiss Post’s annual order volume. The cars are used throughout Austria. In Innsbruck, for example, the post will soon be completely emission-free: the delivery fleet there wants to be completely converted to e-mobility this year. This was already implemented in Graz as part of a pilot project by the end of 2021.
By 2030, Swiss Post wants to be completely CO2-free on the road throughout Austria. At the same time, charging infrastructure and photovoltaic systems are being expanded at the logistics locations.
Peter Umundum, Board Member for Parcel and Logistics at Swiss Post: “Only electric vehicles are used for the last mile. By 2030, we want to be 100 percent on the road in Austria with an electric fleet. We have a total of 10,000 vehicles in service, and every year we exchange around 1,000 vehicles and switch to electric vehicles.” That is the goal of the overall strategy.
According to Umundum in an interview with the Kleine Zeitung, they are also increasingly relying on photovoltaics, which they want to expand to over 14 megawatts this year.
“No risk”
Ordering the Chinese vehicles is not a risk, emphasizes Umundum: On the one hand, long-term tests have already been carried out in everyday operation with Maxus vehicles in Hungary. On the other hand, Maxus was able to score with a complete offer: “We weren’t finished building the dealer network yet,” explains Maxus Managing Director, Andreas Kostelecky, “so we offered to use dealers where Swiss Post needed service points.”
Of course, Denzel’s network of dealers in Austria remains a decisive advantage.
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