ICMIF member DEVK Versicherungen, through its new subsidiary company hylane GmbH, a provider of climate-friendly mobility, has launched the first usage-based rental service for hydrogen-fuelled trucks in Germany.
Founded in Cologne in 2021, hylane is committed to sustainable and innovative mobility in the transport sector. Maximum comfort with minimum risk – that is the promise of hylane, which places environmental protection at the centre of its exclusively climate-friendly vehicle rental services for hydrogen trucks with different superstructures and installations.
Through a usage-based rental (in the so-called “pay-per-use model”), hylane customers only pay for the kilometres they actually drive. As a result, the risk for technical failures does not lie with the users, but with hylane. All services (except driver and fuel) are included in the rental. Customers of hylane can choose from a range of emission-free vehicles, with a focus on trucks with fuel cells. At the start, vehicles from HYZON Motors, Hyundai, Daimler Truck in cooperation with Clean Logistics Technology as well as MAN Truck & Bus as a conversion solution from Framo eTrucks with fuel cell from Robert Bosch GmbH will be available. A similar model for vans and buses will follow at a later date.
Since hylane views climate-friendly mobility as a holistic system, aspects such as energy production, an adequate refuelling and charging infrastructure, vehicle production chains, existing government subsidies, proof of CO2 savings and possible recycling of individual vehicle components were integrated into the concept from the start. The aim of hylane is to provide its customers with sustainable and flexible mobility management while consistently exploiting economic opportunities.
Sara Schiffer, Managing Director of hylane, said at a press conference earlier this week: “We are in talks with renowned transport companies that are willing to join us in climate-neutral transport of their goods. We have already signed rental contracts for the first vehicles. The first customer is the global logistics service provider DB Schenker.”
Bernd Zens, Member of the Board of DEVK Versicherungen, added: “As one of the largest motor insurers in Germany, we want to play our part in decarbonisation, especially against the background of the discussion currently taking place about the use of fossil fuels.”
Axel Blume, head of the “Climate-friendly commercial vehicles” team at the National Organisation Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NOW GmbH), explains: “Commercial vehicles with hydrogen fuel cell drive systems, along with battery and trolley trucks, have great potential to make road freight transport in Germany more sustainable and thus make a contribution to achieving the climate targets. NOW is pleased to support this start-up of DEVK.”
For more than 135 years, people in Germany have been confidently placing their everyday risks in the hands of DEVK Versicherungen’s various insurance products. Founded by railwaymen for railwaymen, DEVK today looks after around 4.2 million customers nationwide with more than 15.4 million risks covered in all insurance lines. A total of around 7,500 employees are ready to help customers quickly and actively. In addition, the “Sparda banks” (German cooperative banks) have been reliable partners of DEVK for many years. In terms of the number of policies, DEVK is Germany’s fourth-largest household insurance company, fifth-largest car insurer and seventh-largest liability insurer.
Pictured (left to right): Bernd Zens, Member of the Board of DEVK Versicherungen; Sara Schiffer, Managing Director of hylane; Gottfried Rüßmann, CEO of DEVK Versicherungen.
