German logistics company DB Schenker has integrated two new 7.5-tonne Mitsubishi Fuso eCanters into its fleet in Finland in January 2024 for daily operations in one of Europe’s coldest regions.

One unit has been making last-mile deliveries in Kuusamo, a northeastern city that experiences heavy snow accumulation and temperatures as low as -30° C (-22° F). This vehicle is currently one of MFTBS’s northernmost electric trucks in operation to date. Another unit is deployed in Oulu, about 200 kilometers (124 miles) southwest of Kuusamo.

Driving the Fuso eCanter in the Cold of Finland

DB Schenker previously integrated 50 earlier model eCanters into its operations across Europe. The company said its decision to deploy its first two new eCanters in these locations was a conscious one with an interest in dispelling preconceptions about using electric trucks in cold climates.

Drivers at DB Schenker’s Kuusamo hub have logged more than 1,200 kilometers with the eCanter in recent weeks making deliveries to customers and report excellent performance. The vehicle starts flawlessly despite the prevailing low temperatures, the company said.

Electric Preconditioning is a Key Advantage in Cold Environment

One important aspect of the eCanter’s operations being undertaken in Finland is electric preconditioning, which brings the battery to ideal temperatures before operation.

Preconditioning is a function available with the new eCanter that allows a user to pre-heat the eCanter’s battery with power from the grid instead of from the battery before the start of a journey.

This enables the vehicle to operate at an improved performance, even though the ambient temperature is cold.

Sustainable Logistics as a Strategy for DB Schenker

For Harald Knaapinen, head of land transport Finland at DB Schenker, the use of the Fuso eCanter is also part of the strategy:

“Together with our customers, we also want to play a pioneering role in sustainable logistics in Finland. To reduce CO2 emissions, such an investment in electric transportation is essential for us. In Finland, parcel transportation accounts for a large proportion of pick-up and delivery traffic,” Knaapinen said. “The current eCanter is the ideal vehicle for this application. And the deployment of the two vehicles in northern Finland with its extreme weather conditions is a unique opportunity for us, basically an ultimate test.”

DB Schenker was one of the first eCanter customers in Europe and introduced the predecessor of the current eCanter model into its fleets in Germany, France, and other European countries several years ago, starting in Berlin in 2018. Today, 52 Fuso eCanter, the current model and its predecessor, operate for DB Schenker in Europe.