It may surprise some that a car enhancer also deals with e-mobility, but ABT Sportsline has actually done that for quite a long time. Hans-Jürgen Abt, CEO of this renowned company, emphasises: “We expect mobility to become even more important to people, both privately and for businesses. We also think that quite a number of concepts has to be available here.” Abt’s “green” work led to the company’s participation in large e-fleet for the Allgäu tourist region. It is also part of the globally successful FIA Formula E, having become vice world champion last season, and developed the ABT eCaddy, with a battery pack to climb the Bavarian mountains on logistic missions, as it were.
One platform – many uses
What is new is the eCab chassis, a platform for various superstructures. Be it a transporter or for cool or dry boxes, as a mobile waste compactor, for parcels or people, the eCab is a very robust basis, carrying 200kg more than any comparable conventional model. The ABT eCab is already TÜV-approved and can travel 120km. It is therefore an ideal utility vehicle in towns and their surroundings.
First tests with Deutsche Post DHL Group
Currently, ten ABT eCabs are being tested in everyday conditions. First ABT Sportsline tested the purely electric vehicles in Kempten; now they have been taken over by Deutsche Post DHL Group. In this pilot customer’s Bonn HQ, and with a parcel delivery superstructure, they are now being tested 24/7 to see if they fit into a logistics company’s concept. Both Deutsche Post DHL Group and ABT Sportsline consider logistics a field where e-mobility will become very important.
Mobility’s future
“E-mobility is going to catch on,“ says Hans-Jürgen Abt and adds: “Provided the batteries will allow a wider radius and we will have common standards. An asynchronous drive could also be important. After all, this would not require rare earths, which are expensive and whose production is ecologically unsound. In commercial terms, e-mobility makes sense even now. After all, its use can be planned and calculated like no other. That’s why we have come up with both the eCaddy and the eCab.“
