Deutsche Post DHL Group is bringing its StreetScooter electric delivery vehicle to two US markets by Spring 2020. The company did not say which markets the Work L delivery van would come to, just that they’ll use one market on “each coast” (presumably meaning the West Coast and East Coast). Full deployments could come as soon as 2022 or 2023.
DHL has already launched so-called “CO2-free last mile delivery” in German cities like Berlin, Munich and Hamburg. There are 10-12,000 of these vehicles currently on the road, and besides German cities they are operating in Amsterdam and Vienna.
The press release from October (see below) has more information.
Delivery companies are of course not doing this sort of thing for altruistic reasons. In part they are pushed by government policies but they’re also looking to save some bucks on fuel costs.
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It’s not just modern times that electric delivery trucks have been used. A hundred years ago there were tens of thousands of electric trucks
in use in cities around the USA, according to a book I’ve republished that was written in 1922. That book describes the technology available at that time (which is very primitive by todays standards) but one chapter is a highly detailed look at the economics of electric trucks versus gasoline trucks or horse-drawn trucks. One major customer of electric trucks at that time, American Railway Express, was the DHL or FedEx of its time. That company used the railroads to rapidly deliver packages to dozens of cities, then used electric delivery trucks for the “last mile”.
According to the Street Scooter website, the Work L can be configured in several configurations. This includes a large box on the rear for cargo, or an open cargo bed. It has a 62 kiloWatt motor so don’t expect it to out-haul a Ford F-150, but the point of such a vehicle is not to be the fastest on the race track but to deliver things at a low cost and low emissions footprint. It comes with a 40 kiloWatt-hour battery pack so at least it will have decent range.
Aachen/Berlin, October 9, 2019
StreetScooter showcases all-new versions of successful WORK and
WORK L models
- Spacious and fast: room for up to four euro pallets and top speed of 120km/h
- Standard features for greater safety, comfort and convenience on the job such as an automatic climate control system and passenger side airbag
- Higher battery capacity of up to 11kW
- CEO Jörg Sommer: “Our upgraded electric light commercial vehicles are the ideal operating equipment for environmentally conscious fleet customers”
StreetScooter has presented the next generation of its successful all-electric light commercial vehicles: the WORK and WORK L. On the premises of the future StreetScooter showroom at the EUREF Campus in Berlin (Germany), Jörg Sommer, CEO StreetScooter GmbH, offered a detailed review of the visually reconceived electric light commercial vehicles (eLCV) and all their benefits. StreetScooter’s next generation of vehicles offers a lot to be excited about, including a redesigned box body with a larger payload of over a ton and space for up to four euro pallets. The new versions of the WORK and WORK L can reach a top speed of 120km/h. They also offer additional features that make the new models safer and more comfortable and convenient for everyday work on the job. Examples include the in-vehicle Automatic Emergency Call system eCall and the AVAS Acoustic Vehicle Alerting System, both of which ensure more safety in road traffic, as well as a standard automatic climate control system, keyless entry and keyless start and a passenger side airbag. Plus, thanks to the new faster charging system of 11kW, the vehicles can reach an 80% charge in approximately five hours.
“StreetScooter is a well-known ‘early bird’ in the electric light commercial vehicle sector,” said StreetScooter GmbH CEO Jörg Sommer. “Years of experience and more than 100 million kilometers on the road have shown us what’s important in tough delivery traffic and last-mile logistics. We have incorporated those insights into a new design for our success models, the WORK and WORK L. The results speak for themselves: optimal operational equipment for environmentally conscious fleet customers.”
Other standard features on the list are heated driver and passenger seats, electric adjustable heated side mirrors, an infotainment system with a Bluetooth® hands-free system that uses DAB+, and Apple Car Play and Google Android Auto.
The new version of the WORK L will also serve as the basis for electric light commercial vehicles for the Chinese market. These trucks will be modified to meet the regional requirements of target customers in China. At the beginning of September, StreetScooter announced its intention to establish a joint venture with the Chinese automobile manufacturer Chery and enter the important Chinese market with the production of a joint eLCV. StreetScooter’s new electric light commercial vehicle will also be pilot-tested at DHL Express in the USA.
For more information: www.streetscooter.com/vision
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