KUALA LUMPUR: DHL Express Malaysia is set to become the country’s first logistics company to electrify its vehicle fleet as it jointly works with Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) to achieve zero carbon emission by 2050.
In less than nine months, DHL expects to receive the first batch of its electric vehicles (EV) – three Nissan e-NV200 delivery vans.
TNB chief retail officer Datuk Ir Megat Jalaluddin Megat Hassan said the utility giant is setting up the EV charging infrastructure in DHL’s service centre in Jalan Chan Sow Lin, Kuala Lumpur, as well as two direct fast-chargers in two other locations in the Klang Valley along the delivery routes. This will be for the pilot phase of the collaboration.
Tenaga Nasional is ready to electrify the green agenda of Malaysia, said MegatJalaluddin.“We have identified the locations and one of them is near our Dayabumi substation in KL city.
“We are going to instal state-of-the-art 60kW fast-chargers. For every minute of charging, it will provide the capacity for the vehicle to run for 6km,” Megat Jalaluddin told a virtual media briefing.
DHL Express Malaysia and Brunei managing director Julian Neo said the electric vehicles to be received by the first half of 2022 could cover about 200km, with seven hours of continuous charging.
“When we park the vans overnight at the Chan Sow Lin service centre, seven hours are more than enough for us to charge.
“Also, when we did our study on urban delivery, averagely on a daily basis our van covers a distance of 180km,” said Neo.
Given its target to electrify 60% of its overall fleet of vehicles by 2030, DHL is looking at having close to 200 EVs in Malaysia, hence making the collaboration with TNB a necessary one.
“We are responsible for the world we live in. At DHL, we can contribute to this effort by ensuring more sustainable deliveries.
“The use of the electric vans marks the beginning of our efforts to make our last-mile delivery and line-hauls greener,” said Neo.
DHL can contribute to the green agenda by ensuring sustainable deliveries, said Neo.Megat Jalaluddin said that interested parties are welcome to utilise the EV charging facilities to be set up under the TNB-DHL collaboration.
On June 20, TNB and DHL inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) to explore the framework of greener supply chain development.
The MoU further includes cooperation in zero carbon and cost reduction initiatives, encompassing the implementation of energy-efficient equipment, and building energy management systems and rooftop solar panels.
TNB has identified transportation as a key sector that the utility giant would be able to contribute to in driving low carbon mobility in Malaysia.
TNB wants to take on an enabler role in creating demand for higher EV adoption in Malaysia.
“As TNB plans to instal more EV charging stations to accommodate the increased number of commercial EVs along their delivery routes for DHL, we are indirectly creating demand for EVs in the near future,” said Megat Jalaluddin.
“With that in mind, TNB is open to more partnerships in the fleet industry and aims to develop a mutually beneficial business model to instal, maintain and sustain the EV charging infrastructure along the routes most frequently used by delivery fleets.
“This business model is designed to strengthen the foundational support for EV proliferation in Malaysia as we help reduce any range anxiety for individual car owners who are looking to switch to EV,” he said.
TNB wants to take on an enabler role in creating demand for higher EV adoptionin Malaysia. An example of TNB’s EV charging station for visitors at one of its offices in Petaling Jaya, Selangor.Megat Jalaluddin said TNB is ready to create the demand for EV in Malaysia by partnering with various sub-sectors of the industry.
The utility giant is also eyeing to establish more EV zones across the country.
“Together with the government’s support, it is a matter of time before EV becomes commonplace in the country, which is our objective.
“It is a business objective of TNB to help the country with respect to sustainability and we are basically on the right track to achieve this goal.
“In a sense, we are ready to electrify the green agenda of Malaysia,” he said.
Neo said that DHL places huge emphasis on environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards.
“For the environment, we have set a mid-term target to reduce our emission level from 33 million tonnes to 29 million tonnes by 2030.
“It will continue to be a focus for DHL to apply clean energy in all fleet facilities, on top of what we have been doing currently such as tree planting, saving paper usage, digitalisation and recycling.
“In the last 12 to 18 months, we have accelerated the installation of 100% LED lighting in all facilities and solar installations in four big facilities,” he said.
As for social and governance aspects, Neo highlighted that DHL strives to provide a safe and engaging working environment, apart from ensuring highly-compliant business practices in all of its operating markets.
“We will continue to make every dimension of our business sustainable, to deliver excellence to our customers,” he said.
