UPS and Workhorse to design electric delivery van
UPS is collaborating with Workhorse in the USA to design an electric delivery vehicle from the ground up. They aim for price parity with comparable ICE vans. A fleet of 50 is to be deployed as part of UPS’ so-called Rolling Lab in 2018.
In fact, the companies have been working on the electric solution for some time so that UPS wants to start testing the vans within this year in Atlanta, Dallas and Los Angeles. Following real-world testing, UPS and Workhorse will fine-tune the design to then deploy a larger fleet in 2019 and beyond.
Each truck will have a range of about 160 km (100 miles) as it aims for delivery routes in and around cities. The class 5 electric trucks will rely on a design, which optimises the driver compartment and cargo area, while reducing vehicle weight.
Steve Burns, CEO of Workhorse Group described the electric trucks as the result of their cooperation with UPS “over the last 4 years refining our electric vehicles with hard fought lessons from millions of road miles and thousands of packages delivered.”
Over at UPS, Carlton Rose, President, Global Fleet Maintenance and Engineering considered “these new electric trucks will be a quantum leap forward for the purpose-built UPS delivery fleet. The all electric trucks will deliver by day and re-charge overnight.”
The new trucks will join UPS’ Rolling Lab, a growing fleet of more than 9,000 green vehicles.
UPS has more than 300 electric vehicles deployed in Europe and the States, and nearly 700 hybrids. The company recently ordered 125 electric Semi trucks from Tesla, the largest pre-order to date (we reported). UPS is also among the first clients testing the Fuso eCanter by Daimler in the States.
UPS is not the first delivery company looking into electrifying its fleet with custom-made vehicles. Deutsche Post/ DHL is Germany’s largest EV manufacturer to date since it set up the StreetScooter production in Aachen that opened its order books to third parties even. DHL now operates a fleet of 5,000 StreetScooter electric vans (we reported).
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