How Has La Poste Electrified Its Fleet with Circontrol?

La Poste has been in an ecological transition for more than 20 years, and part of this has involved the deployment of charging infrastructure to electrify its fleet of vehicles. Pascal Marcelli, Deployment Manager of EV Charging Infrastructures for La Poste, France has been working with Circontrol to drive forward this ecological transition since 2015.

La Poste has introduced ecological delivery via the use of clean and non-polluting vehicles such as bicycles, electric cars and scooters, or those powered by natural gas. La Poste has also implemented an Ecological Score by monitoring the various stages when sending or receiving a letter or parcel. This score allows everyone to choose the most environmentally friendly shipping solutions.

As regards the electrification of their fleet, the arrival of the ZFE-m has encouraged La Poste to fully decarbonize their business, particularly in 44 major cities before 2025. As part of their 2030 strategic plan, the La Poste Group will invest around 600 million euros, one-third of which will be used to make the LCV fleet greener by 2025.

La Poste currently has the largest fleet of electric vehicles in France and Europe with 7,000 electric vehicles out of their fleet of 35,000 to 40,000 light commercial vehicles. An additional 8,000 electric LCVs will be acquired to reach a total of 15,000 electric LCVs. And, aside from their own EVs, parcel subcontractors are also electrifying their fleets and need to recharge quickly at La Poste sites during their rounds.

Besides supplying La Poste with EV charging stations since 2015, Circontrol has been responsible for the installation and maintenance of La Poste’s EV charging infrastructure through its partner DALKIA.  But above all, Circontrol has always worked alongside La Poste to make the best choice of chargers and systems, in particular its dynamic power management system DLM, which they have developed over time to enrich it with new features to specifically meet La Poste’s needs.

Initially, La Poste chose single-phase (7.4 kW) and three-phase (22 kW) WB SMART devices. These chargers are connected and can be monitored by OCPP via a wired Internet connection or 3G/4G modem. They can also be installed in pole or wallbox format and has a very robust and proven design. The choice of power, mainly 7.4 kW, suits La Poste because their vehicles can be parked for a long time (especially at night).

In addition to AC charging, La Poste is now considering DC charging for its parcel service providers. However, from 2023 they will opt for the eNext range of charging stations (Park and Elite), which have more features than the WB Smart, in particular WiFi connectivity, time slot management, and the possibility of upgrading to future versions of the OCPP protocol.

For some sites, La Poste has also opted for the eVolve Smart range (POST eVolve Smart) and is also considering the installation of faster DC chargers to allow our parcel partners to charge in less time.

When asked why La Poste chose Circontrol, Pascal Marcelli said, “Circontrol’s DLM system allows us to control the power available in the mail sorting centers. We can set a maximum amount of energy that must not be exceeded and link it to the power consumption of the building in real-time, in order to dynamically modulate the power at the charging points. We have also defined prioritization rules for some of our vehicles so that they can be charged by time slots according to the needs of our employees. The DLM is a local solution that does not rely on remote monitoring and allows us to have a robust system that does not rely on mobile connectivity or the local internet network, which is a real advantage.”

About CIRCONTROL

CIRCONTROL is a company with in-house technology where innovation is a constant objective. It was founded in 1997 to provide solutions in the mobility sector and electric vehicle charging solutions. Since its creation, it has dedicated a large part of its work to R&D and producing high-quality products, making it a leader not only in standard solutions but also in solutions specific to market demands.

Its core activity is focused on developing Mobility or, more specifically, on efficient solutions for
mobility in car parks and eMobility, with smart charging solutions for electric vehicles.