Kuehne+Nagel France receives 23 electric trucks to decarbonise its road services

VILLEFRANCHE : Kuehne+Nagel France has received a delivery of 23 electric vehicles (EVs) that will be used for domestic groupage transportation services. For the occasion, the Managing Director of Renault Trucks France, Christophe Martin, has visited Kuehne+Nagel’s site in Villefranche sur Saône to ceremonially hand over the keys to Xavier Leger, National Road Logistics Director.

Kuehne+Nagel already piloted a number of EVs in the past years. As truck manufacturers are ramping up production, the company is committed to expand its EV footprint to reach its science-based targets. The company intends to equip 60% of its own fleet with EVs by the end of 2030.

Kuehne+Nagel France has a large domestic groupage network of 56 locations throughout the country, with many short and mid-range routes that can easily be serviced by EVs. On top, it also prepares the team for the upcoming legislation which prohibits polluting vehicles from entering French cities as of 2025, to improve air quality.

“For now, it is more efficient to use EVs for domestic routes instead of international routes because of their limited range and the lack of charging infrastructure on European highways,” says Xavier Leger. Until the required infrastructural changes happen for long distances, Kuehne+Nagel uses hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) as a bridging technology to already reduce road transportation carbon emissions.