When The Postman Drives Electrically

Deutsche Post took over Streetscooter GmbH in 2014 to produce its own vehicles for mail and parcel transport. This was the basis for the “Work” model, which is adapted to the tough demands of everyday delivery and is completely emission-free. The yellow car with "green" drive technology must e.g. B. manage up to 200 stops and starts every day. He needs enough loading volume for letters and parcels and must do his job reliably 300 days a year. On the other hand, the van does not need high speeds and is almost exclusively on short journeys. The first 2,000 vans are rolling off the assembly line at the Aachen plant this year, and from 2017 up to 10,000 vehicles can be built annually. Deutsche Post aims to:as part of their “Go Green” initiative, to replace their conventional-powered delivery fleet with electric transporters in the medium term, so that mail and parcel delivery will in future be environmentally friendly with e-mobiles.

Thyssenkrupp was involved in the decentralized network, which developed various components and modules for the electric vehicle. For example, the steel division was one of the strategic partners who helped design the body structure of the street scooter. The developers rely on economical lightweight construction with a steel body structure that is covered with a plastic outer skin. The steel structure consists of 57% high and high-strength steels. With their high strength, the materials enable thin-walled, lighter components without sacrificing safety. In addition, there are hot-forming steels for bumpers and A and B pillars, which have high component strengths and are also intended to enable large weight savings.Both the materials used and the profile-intensive construction are cost-effective with the street scooter. It should make the derivation of model variants significantly cheaper than conventional press part designs.

Steel modules protect batteries in the event of a crash

The steel division of Thyssenkrupp also developed the floor pan for the street scooter. The component is a sandwich construction, with compartments for up to three batteries. The main task of the module is to house the energy sources in such a way that they are not damaged in the event of a crash and then burn or release substances. The developers at Thyssenkrupp in Duisburg have designed the design and material concept accordingly. The longitudinal members of the floor structure, between which the battery modules are placed, are double-shelled and consist of a high-strength dual-phase steel. The components are so stable that they do not give way in the event of a crash and do not allow the batteries to be damaged. It is the task of the sills to break down part of the impact energy in a controlled manner,which are made from cold rolled dual phase steel. The material not only has high strength, but also enough formability to absorb crash energy. The seat structure and vehicle tunnel are mounted on the floor assembly.

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Damping under control despite varying load weight

The street scooter should also impress with its practical qualities, for example the more than 4 m³ loading space, which allows a payload of 650 kg. This results in an enormous spread between empty and full vehicle, which places high demands on the setup of the shock absorbers. For this reason, the manufacturer already relied on the know-how of the damper specialist from Thyssenkrupp for the 150 series of pre-series.

The permissible total weight of a fully loaded street scooter is 2130 kg. At the end of a long delivery day, it can be over half a ton less. In order to provide balanced damping behavior across the entire spectrum, the tuning must be carried out very carefully - otherwise the vehicle will quickly become over- or under-damped depending on the situation, which would affect comfort and safety. According to the manufacturer, the components already supplied by Thyssenkrupp Bilstein in the trial phase have proven themselves, which is why the company should also be involved as a supplier in series production.

In its long history, Deutsche Post has dealt with electrically powered delivery vehicles several times and has done a lot of pioneering work in this area. But the technical signs have never been as promising as they are today. (sh)

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