Hamburg: DPD to deliver with electric vehicles exclusively
Delivery company DPD will electrify their entire fleet in Hamburg by summer next year, meaning they will operate with zero local emissions in the city centre. DPD will incorporate a mix of electric vans and trucks and smaller light electric vehicles such as scooters and bikes.
These smaller electric vehicles will run operations from a number of “micro depots” says DPD. They estimate that this will replace ten regular rounds of deliveries and retire diesel vehicles.
For now the pilot only regards the inner city of Hamburg, namely the districts of Altstadt, Neustadt, Hafencity, St. Georg and Hammerbrook districts as well as in the Steinwerder and Kleiner Grasbrook areas. Yet DPD Germany CEO Boris Winkelmann is hoping for “valuable insights into the long-term performance of various electric models – especially when it comes to large-scale collection and delivery of parcels for commercial shippers and consignees.”
DPD will use various electric vehicles for the Hamburg trial, the largest being the VW e-Crafter and the Fuso e-Canter by Daimler. Electric scooters of type TRIPL come from the Danish manufacturer EWII. The electric cargo bikes are then made by German Radkutsche.
In terms of deliveries, the vans or truck will deliver parcels to the micro depots in the morning where the cargo bike or TRIPL scooter will pick them up. DPD already began operations with its first micro depot in Hamburg last month.
Yet both in Hamburg and in other cities DPD is hoping for greater support from the municipalities, particular when it comes to finding suitable locations for micro depots. “Parcel services are already indispensable for cities today, and they are becoming increasingly important both for residents and for retailers,” explains Winkelmann. “It is essential for cities and municipalities to play an even greater role in working with us to find constructive solutions for the parcel deliveries of tomorrow.”
In the case of the Hamburg trial, DPD secured support from Zukunft.de. The initiative, which is led by the city of Hamburg, aims to electrify parcel deliveries along the last mile.
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