Case Study: Elis Powers Its Electric Transport Fleet with Mer

The Client

French-owned Elis is a leading international textile service provider that rents textile solutions to various industries. The company manages the entire process from design to logistics, laundering, and recycling. In Sweden, Elis operates 25 facilities with 1,600 employees and distribution nationwide. Its fleet currently consists of 550 vehicles, ranging from distribution vans and light and heavy trucks to company cars.

The Brief

Elis has been actively working towards electrifying its vehicle fleet for several years.

The company recently had its climate goals approved by the Science Based Targets initiative, further intensifying its climate efforts. Additionally, many of Elis’s existing clients demanded fossil-free distribution and CO2 tracking, requirements also prevalent in public procurements.

Elis also introduced a vehicle policy. This policy states that all company cars must be hybrid or electric. This marks the start of their shift to an electric fleet.

Many of Elis’s distribution vehicles are parked at their facilities overnight and deliver to customers during the day. The primary requirement for a charging solution was to ensure sufficient range and facilitate easy overnight charging at depots.

A big challenge in electrifying vehicles is their added weight. This weight lowers the payload capacity. As a result, drivers need to make more trips with shorter ranges.

It was crucial to test each facility individually to identify the optimal solution. Elis also required the ability to continuously evaluate charging activities and easily monitor each vehicle’s charging data to assess energy consumption at their facilities.

The Solution

Elis chose Mer as their charging partner due to Mer’s ability to provide smooth support throughout the process. Mer offered the best system support for statistics and monitoring, which simplifies the administration and management of charging activities.

“Access to Mer’s web portal, which provides statistics and monitoring, makes it easy to track how much each vehicle has charged and to distinguish where the electricity is used, such as how much is allocated to production versus distribution.” — Patrik Nyholm, Purchasing Manager at Elis Sweden

Elis continuously reviews which routes can be electrified each year and how the charging infrastructure needs to be configured. They also consider developments in transport electric vehicles – regarding range, payload, etc.

The company was supported by the Swedish Environmental Protection Agency’s “Ladda bilen” grant for the 22kW chargers. Elis also plans to apply for the “Klimatklivet” grant for the new fast chargers. They have secured electricity prices, allowing them to know exactly how operating costs will appear.

A Tailored Charging Solution

Elis will continue to expand its charging network, introducing more 22kW chargers for its distribution and company cars, as well as employees’ private vehicles.

Next, Elis will electrify vehicles running between depots and laundries. These routes cover a longer range, more shifts, and require ultra-fast charge points that provide a high-power charge.