DHL Creates Its Own Electric Delivery Van, VW Not Happy

DHL is rolling out a fleet of bespoke electric delivery vans across numerous German cities to meet demand for environmentally friendly deliveries.

The German postal and logistics group is currently using its StreetScooter delivery van in place of the conventionally-powered Volkswagen vans it once used across Germany.

DHL opted to build its very own vehicle after its requests to existing carmakers to build a limited-run of electric vans were denied. Now, there are already 1,000 units on the streets being used by DHL and production will soon hit 5,000 units annually. Each van has been designed to last approximately 16 years when used six days a week for 10 hours at a time.

In creating the delivery van, DHL embarked on a wide search for suppliers and succeeded meaning doesn’t produce a single component of the van in-house. The electric drivetrain for example comes from Bosch while the headlights are manufactured by Hella.

While DHL seems rather proud of the StreetScooter, VW isn’t too happy about its Caddy vans being replaced.

Speaking with Reuters, Volkswagen AG chief executive Matthias Mueller said “I am annoyed beyond measure. I, of course, ask myself why Post did not talk to our VW Commercial vehicles division about doing something similar. Let’s see if we can still get a foot in the door there.”