Logistics

SMART E-USER: Concept for Electric City Logistics

Berlin and Brandenburg are receiving 100 million euros in funding from the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Technology as part of the German government's showcase initiative. In April 2012, the German government selected four regions in Germany as "showcases for electromobility" and, following a resolution of the German Bundestag, is promoting research and development of alternative drive systems here. The federal government is providing funding totaling €180 million for the showcase program. In the large-scale regional demonstration and pilot projects, electromobility is tested at the interface between the energy system, the vehicle and the transportation system.

The use of electromobility in commercial transport continues to pose challenges for potential users. Only limited knowledge is available on the specific application possibilities of electromobility and its efficient design in the users' real business processes. There are open questions regarding the redesign of process flows, further development of supporting IT systems for dynamic planning and optimization of processes, and integration of a charging management system, since "refueling" now acts as a time-critical factor. In order to generate a real sustainability effect through the use of electromobility, it must also be clarified whether the processes can be designed in such a way that the charging times correspond to times with the highest possible renewable shares in the electricity mix. Traffic effects due to the changed process design are also essential and have not been sufficiently investigated.

This systemic mesh of electric vehicle, process design, traffic, IT system development, energy and economic-sustainable approaches components is the focus of the "Smart e-User" project. The research network aims to implement and evaluate the broad use of electric utility vehicles (up to 3.5 t) in commercial transport. Economically viable applications for supplying selected inner-city areas of Berlin with goods and services are to be demonstrated. The e-vehicles will be fully integrated into the business processes of the user groups represented in the project in freight and passenger transport. In addition, the use of an inner-city hub for the distribution of shipments in freight traffic will be tested with the integration of electric vehicles.

A user-neutral IT-based solution (dynamic route planning) is also being developed for planning and controlling the use of electric vehicles, enabling the systemic networking of the elements vehicle, energy, transport and logistics. The developed solutions will be tested in a fleet trial with 30 e-utility vehicles in the Berlin-Brandenburg showcase.

The Berlin-Brandenburg International Showcase for Electromobility is funded by the German federal government and the states of Berlin and Brandenburg for a period of three years as part of the federal government's Showcase Initiative. The projects are coordinated by the Berlin Agency for Electromobility eMO.

Film about the Smart e-User project

Insert image film

German High Tech Champions Award 2014

The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft awarded the project "Smart e-User" as "German High Tech Champion 2014" in the category "Urban Distribution". The prize is endowed with 10,000 € and was awarded on April 3, 2014 at the SITL Europe in the German Embassy in Paris in front of an invited audience. GHTC - the German High Tech Champions Award is part of the initiative "Werbung für den Innovations- und Forschungsstandort Deutschland" (Advertising Germany as a Location for Innovation and Research) under the brand "Research in Germany", which is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research.

Project Organization

Project sponsor:

  • Bundesministerium für Wirtschaft und Energie

Collaboration partner:: 

  • Technische Universität Berlin: Institut für Technologie und Management - Fachgebiet Logistik (Koordinator)
  • Technische Universität Berlin: Institut für Land- und Seeverkehr - Fachgebiet integrierte Verkehrsplanung
  • Technische Universität Berlin: Institut für Wirtschaftsinformatik - DAI Labor
  • Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e. V. (DLR), Berlin
  • VIOM GmbH, Berlin
  • Deutsche Post AG, Bonn
  • DEKRA e.V., Berlin
  • MediaVita GmbH, Berlin
  • VdTÜV e.V.

Project duration:

01.06.2013 - 31.06.2016

Contact person knowledge management

M.Sc.

Jonas Brands

Research Associate

brands@logistik.tu-berlin.de

+49 30 314-28438

Organization name Logistics
Office H 90
Building Hauptgebäude (H)
Room H 9103
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