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City Delivery Vans Are a Nuisance, Mercedes-Benz Now Has a Solution

If you live in a big city, it doesn’t matter which, be it London, New York, Tokyo, or Bucharest, delivery vans are essentially accepted as necessary evils. Great beasts of burden on society that at best make your Amazon packages appear before your very eyes and, at worst, turn the city into a congested, polluted pseudo-dystopia. From the looks of things, Mercedes-Benz thinks the same way we do and has a solution that should satisfy everybody.
SUSTAINER 45 photos
Photo: Mercedes-Benz
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Today, Mercedes-Benz announced the unveiling of its SUSTAINER project. An initiative that aims to turn the iconic Sprinter delivery van into a vehicle that’s not only acceptable in modern cities but downright preferable to the way things are now. It all starts with a drive toward all-electric propulsion to eliminate tedious road noise and toxic pollution.

This is strengthened by low rolling resistance tires that make almost no noise as they carry the van down the road. The new Speed Delivery Door opens and closes much more quietley than other vans, making for less overall noise pollution.

Electric delivery vans are going to need their fair share of maintenance. That’s why Mercedes-Benz is rolling a sustainable repair concept for high-voltage batteries in all van segments. A program that will keep electric vans on the road for as long as possible, eliminating the need for costly and recourse-draining manufacturing processes required to build a new van from scratch.

In order to help keep these vans charged, they’ll sport solar panels on their roofs that can stretch the time between charging station trips, saving precious time and money. When all put together, Mercedes-Benz hopes to eliminate up to 50% of their van’s carbon footprint very soon.

This goal Keeps in line with Mercedes-Benz's "Ambition 2039" business strategy to reduce carbon emissions from their vehicle by 40% compared to the current day by 2030, and likely even more soon afterward.

"Our goal: Innovations and technical solutions must always make a contribution to sustainability and offer added value for drivers and other road users,” said Marcus Breitschwerdt, Head of Mercedes-Benz Vans. “Only then is a new technology good enough to be installed in a Mercedes-Benz van.' Lofty goals by any measure, let’s see if Mercedes-Benz can follow through on the deal. Check out the press release below if you want to learn more.
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press release
 

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