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Chinese truck manufacturers are moving beyond pilots and trade-show headlines in Europe, with BYD now supplying electric rigids for Dachser’s everyday operations in Spain.
Germany-headquartered logistics operator Dachser has begun using two 7.5-tonne BYD ETM6 battery-electric trucks for day-to-day urban distribution in Spain, operating city-centre routes in Barcelona and Valencia.
The lorries are powered by a 255 kWh battery pack. On paper, that gives them a WLTP range of up to 200 kilometres. In practice, Dachser told Freight Carbon Zero that the trucks are integrated into city-centre distribution work and are currently clocking around 230 kilometres a day.
To keep them working at that level, Dachser has built the charging around its depot network. The trucks use 50 kW DC chargers installed at Dachser branches, with the hardware supplied by an external provider. Overnight charging is topped up with short sessions during drivers’ statutory rest breaks, which in day-to-day operations usually add up to two charging stops per shift.
According to BYD, the lorries can be recharged from 20% to 100% in around two hours under suitable conditions. Dachser integrates these charging windows into existing logistics schedules to maintain vehicle availability throughout the working day, rather than relying on a single long charging stop.
As for the grid, Dachser added that no reinforcement was required at the sites where the vehicles are based.
Dachser reports that the lorries offer payloads comparable to diesel trucks of the same capacity, with figures of 3,810 kg or 3,740 kg, depending on the build.
The decision to purchase the vehicles followed a trial programme that began in September 2025. According to BYD Trucks, the trial involved the loan of an ETM6, which logged more than 3,500 kilometres across various Spanish cities and allowed the two companies to validate performance, reliability and energy consumption in day-to-day use.
“Electrifying transport is a key pillar of our sustainability strategy,” said Alberto Gil, team leader energy management & sustainability at Dachser, explaining that the test period enabled the company to check whether BYD’s electric trucks met its operational standards for reliability, efficiency and customer service.
The deployment in Spain adds BYD to Dachser’s existing portfolio of battery-electric trucks in Europe. The company operates more than 160 BEV trucks over 3.5 tonnes across its European network, including vehicles from Renault Trucks, MAN and Mercedes-Benz, used on both local distribution and longer-distance work.
