DPD vehicles are going electric and they have announced their first all-electric parcel delivery depot is opening in London. 7 more such depots, that will reduce carbon emissions in the capital, are planned in London in due course.
The 5,000 sq ft facility on Vandon Street will be known as DPD Westminster and will have capacity to deliver 2,000 parcels a day utilising an all-electric fleet. It has reportedly cost £500,000 refurbishing the site including the introduction of an electric charging system that will enable the deployment of electric vehicles without major infrastructure upgrades.
Using all-electric vehicles in both the inward feed of parcels to DPD Westminster, and the final mile deliveries, will initially see a reduction of 45 tonnes of CO2 per annum. This will obviously increase as more all-electric vehicles and depots are introduced into the DPD’s all-electric network.
They will be using three new types of all-electric vehicles to operate the depot. Two all-electric Fuso eCanter 7.5t vehicles will feed parcels into the depot each day, while the final mile deliveries will be completed by two different all-electric vehicles.
This is a hugely significant announcement for us with Westminster set to be the first of a series of all-electric DPD depots. Reducing and neutralising our carbon footprint; providing smarter and more efficient urban delivery solutions and driving innovation are at the heart of DPD’s DrivingChange programme. We want to be the leader in alternative fuel vehicles in the UK, with the ultimate aim being to move to a zero emission fleet. There are still significant external issues to be overcome in terms of the infrastructure to support an all-electric fleet on the scale we need, across the whole of central London.
– Dwain McDonald, CEO, DPD
