UK parcel delivery firm DPD is to partner with London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC) for a series of road trials ahead of the launch of the company’s new range-extender van later this year.
The VN5 is a 2.5-tonne low-emission commercial vehicle and will be available in the UK in Q4 2020.
It is powered by a 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol engine, 31kWh battery pack and rear-mounted electric motor that offers a pure EV range of 63 miles and an extended range of over 300 miles.
There is no physical connection between the range-extender engine and the wheels, with the combustion unit kicking in occasionally to keep the battery pack topped up.
DPD will use a specially adapted LEVC prototype to evaluate how the vehicle operates in different driving conditions, and with different loads and on different types of routes.
The company is reportedly on track to have over 600 EVs 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, CEO, DPD, explained that while EVs remain the company’s priority, it needs 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,” said McDonald, “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.”
He added that DPD is keen to see how LEVC’s range-extender technology works for the 3PL, and described it as “a very flexible solution” and “very smart”.
“We could use geo-fencing so that it switches automatically to electric-only on entering urban areas, including low emissions zones,” McDonald continued. “We will certainly give it a good test and we’ll see how it works out.”
