DPD tests out new electric van ahead of launch

Parcel delivery firm, DPD, is to partner with the London EV Company (LEVC) for a series of road trials ahead of the launch of the company's VN5 Electric Van later this year.

LEVC, formally known as The London Taxi Company, is the brand behind London black taxicabs. The company created the world's first EV taxi in 2017, which was designed and manufactured at the firm's Coventry base - the first dedicated EV car plant in the UK.

The VN5 Electric Van is a 2.5 tonne low emissions vehicle and will be available in the UK in Q4 2020. DPD will be testing the technology using a specially adapted LEVC vehicle. It will be looking at how the vehicle operates in different driving conditions, and with different loads and on different types of routes.

DPD says that it is on track to have over 600 electric vehicles by the end of this year, equating to 10% of its fleet. It has also created a new model for sustainable urban parcel deliveries, based on a network of all-electric micro-depots, the first of which opened in Westminster in 2018.

Dwain McDonald, DPD's CEO comments: "We are committed to having the greenest fleet in the UK, as soon as possible. While EVs remain our priority, we are keen to look at a wide range of technologies to help solve different challenges.”

“We've developed a great model for large urban centres and EVs are working well out of our regional depots on many routes. But, inevitably, we have a number of routes where we have to drive a significant number of stem miles from the depot just to get to the first delivery address. At the moment, the limited range on pure EVs, means we can't move away from diesel vans for these routes.”

With the new technology, he adds, DPD could use geo-fencing so that the new vehicle switches automatically to electric-only on entering urban areas, including low emissions zones.

“We will certainly give it a good test and we'll see how it works out. In the meantime, we are taking delivery of more EVs every week, right across our depot network and the feedback from our drivers and customers has been excellent,” he concludes.