DPD UK has agreed a deal with vehicle manufacturer Maxus for 750 of its eDeliver electric vans, which will double the company’s total UK EV fleet. According to DPD, the order, which includes 500 long-wheelbase 3.5t electric vans and 250 of the smaller eDeliver 3, will bring its total EV UK fleet to almost 1,500 vehicles, with plans to extend that to more than 1,700 EVs on the road by the end of the year.
DPD has purchased both the 72kW and longer range 88kW versions of the eDeliver 9, giving the vans a far greater range than anything previously available in the UK; the 88kW version can cover more than 200 miles on a single charge.
DPD’s head of CSR, Olly Craughan, commented, “We’re absolutely delighted with the Maxus. The 3.5t van is the workhorse of any delivery and collection fleet, so to get our hands on an EV with this kind of capacity and range is a real game-changer for us. We’ve got EVs in every DPD depot already, but they are largely focused on quite compact routes, usually in city centers, where range isn’t an issue. But this opens up the possibility of clean, green deliveries on a much larger scale.
“We know from our shippers that being able to offer their customers green deliveries is a huge plus point, while the feedback on the doorstep is similarly positive,” he continued. “Our aim is to deliver to 25 of the largest towns and cities in the UK entirely with zero- and low-emission delivery means by 2025, and this order begins to make that a reality.”