E-Works Mobility & Würth: Diesel to Electric - Service Vans Become Emission-Free

There is no way around the electrification of vehicle fleets if one wants to achieve climate goals, both globally and locally, i.e., within the company: With this clear conviction, the workshop giant Würth from Künzelsau in Swabia sought a way to start with the already existing fleet of 3,000 vehicles. And they found it in Ismaning, with the electrification pioneer E-Works Mobility, which specializes in retrofitting young used Sprinters with special modifications. These are often as expensive as the entire vehicle and in any case justify the not-so-cheap conversion.

Double environmental effect: No new vehicle needs to be produced, and the diesel, in its "second life," becomes an emission-free electric vehicle. Although the vehicles should not be too old either. The first prototype in the E-Works workshop on a field near the Ismaninger Speichersee is a well-maintained and still quite young Sprinter Diesel, which, after retrofitting, looks like new. Clearly, the service mobiles used by Würth employees are treated differently than Sprinters in the CEP (Courier, Express, and Parcel) logistics, which are often ready for retirement after four years.

Core target group: not CEP, but diverse trades

This is why the E-Works team around founder and managing director Dominik Ashkar see their core target group not in the CEP sector with its many standard panel vans, where expensive conversions are rarely used, making retrofitting worthwhile. Instead, they target countless specialized, municipal, and special vehicles, some of which are more "stationary vehicles." Or mobile workshops, like those used by Würth service employees. No retrofit is the same, as Markus Schäfer, authorized signatory at Würth Vehicle Equipment, reports. Sometimes, complex shelving and workbench systems are transported alongside complete arsenals of machinery and tools that enable onsite work.

This brings us to another argument for electric transporters, which Christian Würth, authorized signatory and head of Services and Systems at Würth, points out: After electrification, the vans can also serve as rolling energy storage units or power banks, to which even power-intensive tools or devices can be connected. This means there no longer needs to be a diesel running on site, which burdens the environment in two ways, with noise and emissions. And the extra battery, which often still had to be carried along until now, can be dispensed with, Schäfer advocates for the concept. This would open up an entirely new field of mobile services, the Würth expert muses. So, the vehicle is used "value-creating," as he believes. Dominik Ashkar proudly points to the V2L function, which currently works with DC and is soon to be expanded with an AC option of up to 22 kW.

High Trailer Load as a Criterion

Another factor for the Künzelsau workshop specialists is the high trailer load, which is indispensable for the operations. Up to 3,500 kilos can be hooked to the electrified "classic." And at the latest, when the service staff realize that the E-motor of the former diesel sprinter, now transformed into the E-Works Heero, delivers a hefty 345 Nm of torque from a standstill and gets the vehicle moving just as easily and quietly, they quickly become convinced, as Markus Schäfer recounts. He himself now drives an electric car from Munich and can no longer imagine returning to diesel.

There are, of course, no problems with traction under heavy loads. After all, the retrofitter retains the rear-wheel drive concept including the driveshaft, which is cleverly and patentedly routed between 2x8 modules of the battery pack in the underbody. In the future, instead of an aluminum shell, a fiberglass construction will be used here to save 70 to 80 kilos in weight or provide more payload. Additionally, the decreasing prices for CATL cell modules are expected to contribute to overall cost-effectiveness. The rather noticeable noises from the drivetrain, which were still criticized in the early models, have now been resolved, promises the manufacturer.

Thus, there is nothing standing in the way of scaling, which Würth certainly aims for and considers, once the new production facility in the northern part of Munich is up and running. This will take a little longer, but Ashkar and Jan Schreiter from the financial partner Wunderkind Invest expect a capacity in the low four-figure range by 2025. The scaling could, of course, also achieve higher price efficiency.

"We are convinced by the concept, and we believe that the electrification of countless existing vehicles is imperative, logical, and indispensable. That is why we are investing in E-Works," explains Schreiter, who closely accompanies the start-up.

Important milestone for the young company

The strategic cooperation with Würth is therefore also an important milestone for him as well as a confirmation of the concept. It should, of course, be profitable, says business economist Schreiter. And Würth's authorized signatory Schäfer agrees: Würth is not a welfare organization but a business enterprise that also has to operate economically. But that is also possible: He calculates, as with his service electric vehicle, with significantly lower service and maintenance costs for the vehicles. The conversion should also pay off through lower energy costs, preferably with self-produced electricity. Although the authorities do not always make it easy, Schäfer hints. Charging the vehicles at the branches should be less of a problem in this case: electricity is available everywhere – and if in doubt, you can quickly install the Wallboxes yourself.