
DPD to pilot 'world first' electric delivery truck in London - sefrost
https://www.businessgreen.com/news/4018435/dpd-pilot-world-electric-delivery-truck-london
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sungam
A large proportion of the UK had milk delivered by electric vehicles 'milk
floats' when I was a child in the 1980s...
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk_float](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk_float)

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drcongo
They're still around, though not as common. I got a slight childlike
excitement last time I saw one drive up my street.

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Theodores
DPD have plenty of Nissan NV200 electric vans doing the rounds. They make a
lot of sense and not a lot of noise. These are the right vehicles for dropping
off Amazon orders and other online purchases, even in hilly areas.

London has a lot of businesses sending stuff out and getting stuff in. Some
are close to the M25 where pallets are the order of the day. Normally this
needs something bigger than a Nissan van - a big lorry. Seems that DPD have
the right tool for the job. I don't blame them for grumbling, routes near to
their depots on the M25 need vehicles where you can pick up several pallets of
small parcels from many warehouses. This far they have not been able to do
that the EV way.

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youngtaff
We often get deliveries from a DPD electric van out here in the sticks of
Gloucestershire hadn't realised it was a Nissan though

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hengheng
> the world's first purpose-built full-electric large commercial vehicle

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StreetScooter](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StreetScooter)

Probably not technically a Large Commercial Vehicle, but a couple other ones
do come to mind.

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sandworm101
>> Volta Zero was specifically designed to deliver parcels and freight in
inner city locations

Really? Setting aside the switch to electric motors, the thing is huge. The
cab looks like the first 1/4 of a bus and it is 10-feet wide. Good luck with
that on in the back alleys of London. How exactly is this designed for urban
"parcel" delivery? It looks like any other flatbed meant only for work only at
loading docks.

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michaelt
_> How exactly is this designed for urban "parcel" delivery?_

It doesn't look that much bigger than a UPS truck - and plenty of shops in
urban areas receive deliveries on 7.5 tonne trucks.

The real thing that makes this designed for _urban_ delivery is the 100-mile
range and 56 mph maximum speed which mean it ain't designed for much else :)

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formerly_proven
Streetscooter seems a more practical design, since they are narrow enough that
most cars can pass them even in narrow streets.

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mytailorisrich
'World first'... Perhaps for the size.

Certainly not world's first electric delivery truck.

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scoot
Electric milk delivery trucks ("milk floats" [1]) were a common sight in the
UK from the 1950s until the 1980s, when doorstep delivery of milk started to
decline.

There are still a few around.

[1]
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk_float](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Milk_float)

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mytailorisrich
Yeah we still have a milk float doing its round (England) and it is electric
(and quite beat-up, looks old). When we hear that "wizz" sound in the morning
we know it's the guy.

Edit: Our local one looks like a "Dairy Crest Smith's Elizabethan milk float"
in the Wikipedia page's pictures.

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robear
What exactly are they claiming is 'world first'? There are already examples of
previous electric delivery trucks in this thread. I will add one that I don't
see listed - the Navistar International eStar -
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navistar_International#eStar_e...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Navistar_International#eStar_electric_van)

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the-dude
"early next year" : or maybe another year later, or never.

Or someone beats them to it, making it not 'world first'.

Great PR ( submarine ) though.

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barbegal
Yeah these things can take forever to produce especially when it's a small
company with no prior manufacturing experience and they have to build up a
whole supply chain. A small defect in the manufacturing of a single component
can push the build back months. I would reckon on around two years from
rolling prototype to introduction to fleet. And I don't think they have a
rolling prototype yet, I see a lot of nice renders instead.

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JWoolfenden
also [https://metro.co.uk/2020/07/29/waitrose-john-lewis-
introduce...](https://metro.co.uk/2020/07/29/waitrose-john-lewis-introduce-
electric-home-delivery-vans-13052452/)

