Bosch putting electric vans on the road

The boom in online shopping is stretching delivery traffic in major cities to its limits.

So Bosch plans to develop its new electric powertrain for light commercial vehicles for launching in the first vehicles in 2019.

“Bosch’s electrical powertrain for commercial vehicles has the potential to change the face of urban delivery traffic,” Robert Bosch GmbH management board member Dr Markus Heyn says.

He expects it will make urban deliveries cheaper and more efficient.

The market potential is huge, as three-fourths of Germany’s commercial vehicles alone are vans.

Deutsche Post has already initiated change in urban deliveries with its StreetScooter, which uses a Bosch drive system.

The Bosch electric powertrain will take that a step further, suitable for the majority of delivery vehicles.

The idea behind the electromobility campaign is for electric vans to handle last-mile deliveries from distribution centres to recipients, Bosch says.

“The kind of stop-and-go traffic this entails is one area in which electric vehicles are particularly efficient, because they can recuperate the energy from constant braking, which increases their range.”

Most delivery routes amount to less than 80km a day – a distance easily covered on a single battery charge.

Fleets can then be recharged overnight at the depot. Any driving bans in city centres would not affect electric fleets, since their powertrains cause zero local emissions.

For 61% of Germans, whether an online retailer makes deliveries with electric vehicles is a key criterion in their choice (source PwC). One further advantage is that EVs make less noise, which should also increase people’s willingness to accept deliveries later into the evening.

This could relieve traffic at peak times and provide for more flexible delivery windows.

“Bosch is bringing e-mobility to where it really makes sense – urban deliveries,” Heyn says.

Two versions of Bosch’s eCityTruck powertrain are offered – one with a transmission and one without.

The goal is to create solutions that are quick to integrate and accommodate automakers’ differing requirements. These powertrain solutions can be scaled for light commercial vehicles weighing two to 7.5 metric tonnes, making them suitable for a large section of the commercial vehicle market.

Bosch already offers an all-in-one solution for passenger cars – the e-axle – which significantly shortens vehicle development times. Now it’s expanding its product portfolio to include light commercial vehicles, and helping support automakers with their electrification strategies.

Together with the Nikola Motor Company, a US start-up, Bosch is developing a powertrain that raises the bar for electric range in commercial vehicles such as trucks.