Volta trucks are teaming up with delivery giants DPD to distribute parcels around London in their new Zero electric trucks. The pilot scheme will be rolled out in early 2021 and take place in the capital’s Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), and supports DPD’s Smart Urban Delivery Strategy.
Volta, who are a Scandinavian start-up electric commercial vehicle manufacturer, are also taking part in similar trials with their Zero trucks in Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. The purpose built 16-tonne trucks have been designed to operate in London’s ULEZ where DPD opened the UK’s first all-electric parcel depot back in October 2018. Volta will officially launch their Zero truck on September 3, 2020.
This shows DPD’s commitment to zero emissions and sustainability for the future.
They have long been proactive in the green sphere when it comes to parcel distribution. They’re aiming to be the most responsible city centre delivery company, and leader when it comes to the use of electric vehicles in the UK. Their plan was to make 10 percent of their delivery fleet electric by 2021. This has now happened five months ahead of time.
DPD are also running their Smart Urban Delivery Strategy that has the UK’s first all-electric micro-depot located in Westminster. They’ll soon have eight micro-sites around London in order to make cleaner deliveries in even more areas. DPD now have 700 electric vehicles in their fleet. If this wasn’t impressive enough, they have now delivered almost five million emission-free parcels since the start of 2020. This has resulted in a saving of over two million kilogrammes of carbon dioxide.
CSR General Manager of DPD Group UK Ltd, Olly Craughan, said: “DPD are happy to announce a trial of the Volta Zero 16-tonne purpose built fully electric vehicle planned for 2021. The vehicle is an ideal fit for our Urban Logistics strategy, and the fact that it will be the most sustainable commercial vehicle is a fantastic achievement too, and mirrors our own strategy to be the UK’s leader in sustainable delivery.”
