
Deutsche Post Builds Its Own Electric Delivery Van, Volkswagen Execs Are Angry - jseliger
https://cleantechnica.com/2016/10/08/deutsche-post-builds-electric-delivery-van-volkswagen-execs-angry/
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iamjeff
Lengthy excerpt: _Advances in manufacturing software are allowing the likes of
Deutsche Post, Google, and start-ups to tap suppliers to design, engineer, and
test new vehicle concepts without hiring thousands of engineering staff or
investing billions in tooling and factories...Streetscooter used a software
program made by PTC to talk to a network of 80 suppliers including Bosch,
which provides the electric drivetrain, and Hella which makes the headlights.
PTC’s Windchill software, which costs 300 to 1,000 euros ($330–$1,120) per
user per year, is used by 90% of the top 50 automotive companies including
Continental, ZF, Volkswagen, Audi, MAN, Hyundai, and Ferrari._

This Windchill software enabled a firm with 15 engineers to develop an
electric vehicle from scratch and deploy a fleet of 20 vans within 2 years [1,
2]. This milestone led Deutsche Post to partner with the company in question
(Streetscooter). The latter has plans to roll out 10k EVs over the next few
years.

The level of efficiency is remarkable. If an open source or cheaper software
toolkit were available, small-scale production by individuals (building a car
company from your own garage) and regular businesses (I want an electric car
for my business) may become infinitely affordable.

1- StreetScooter Builds Electric Vehicle from Ground Up
([http://www.ptc.com/product-lifecycle-report/streetscooter-
bu...](http://www.ptc.com/product-lifecycle-report/streetscooter-builds-
electric-vehicle-from-ground-up))

2- StreetScooter Customer Stories: www.ptc.com/case-studies/street-scooter

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johan_larson
It's surprising that they could be price-competitive with such a short
production run. One thousand vehicles is nothing.

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squozzer
DP produced the vehicles to their own specs to use.

VW would have produced the vehicles to sell, based on some amalgamation of
inputs, and 1000 vehicles would not have been a cost-effective run.

But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.

