Nagel-Group starts practical testing of Mercedes-Benz eActros in Hamburg

The fully-electric Mercedes-Benz eActros will now take to the roads for the food logistics specialist Nagel-Group in Hamburg.

The vehicle will round off the Mercedes-Benz Trucks eActros “Innovation Fleet” for testing the heavy-duty electric truck.

The first eActros has been taking part in customer testing since September 2018. The eActros in use by Nagel-Group is the tenth vehicle in the fleet. The aim is to be able to realise clean and quiet short-radius distribution in urban areas from 2021 using heavy-duty series-production trucks. The official hand-over of the eActros took place in the Hans-Duncker-Street at the Nagel-Group branch in south-east Hamburg.

The 18 tonne truck with a range of up to 200 km supplies refrigerated foodstuffs to different customers such as supermarkets in central Hamburg. As a fully-electric and therefore locally emission-free truck, the eActros can also drive in zones subject to bans on diesel vehicles. After the daily round, the batteries are charged directly at the company's depot overnight.

Oliver Kraft, Head of Key Account Management at Mercedes-Benz Trucks: “We are delighted that the Nagel-Group with their many years of experience in food logistics is one of our customers testing the eActros in daily operations. This vehicle for the Nagel-Group rounds off our ‘Innovation Fleet' for testing the all-electric truck.”

Carsten Taucke, CEO of the Nagel-Group: “As a leading family-run business in the food logistics sector, we welcome solutions that are ecological and that make economic sense. The eActros provides an innovative approach so we can reduce emissions and, at the same time, meet the high requirements of our deliveries.”

Tobias Jardon, Head of the Nagel-Group Hamburg branch: “Hamburg provides the ideal urban surroundings for testing a fully electric truck. The Mercedes-Benz eActros will deliver refrigerated goods every day to different customers in the inner city of Hamburg. We are looking forward to seeing how the electric truck performs with the high demands of refrigerated logistics.”

As part of practical testing of the eActros “Innovation Fleet”, the 18 or 25-tonne vehicles are put through their paces by 20 customers from various sectors as part of their regular daily operations. The tests of this “Innovation Fleet” are made up of two phases, each with ten customers. Feedback from these practical tests flows directly into further development of the eActros right up until its readiness for series production.