DPD opens electric parcel depot in central London

Parcel delivery company DPD has opened an all-electric parcel depot in the heart of Westminster and announced plans for a further seven all-electric sites in the capital.

The new facility on Vandon Street will be known as DPD Westminster and will have capacity to deliver 2,000 parcels a day utilising an all-electric fleett and has an electric charging system that will enable the deployment of electric vehicles without major infrastructure upgrades.

Using all-electric vehicles in both the inward feed of parcels to DPD Westminster, and the final delivery to customers, DPD will initially see a reduction of 45 tonnes of CO2 per annum. This will increase as more all-electric vehicles and depots are introduced into the DPD's all-electric network.

DPD has deployed three new types of all-electric vehicles to operate the depot. Two all-electric Mitsubishi Fuso eCanter 7.5t vehicles will feed parcels into the depot each day, while the final mile deliveries will be completed by two different all-electric vehicles. DPD has initially bought 10 Nissan eNV200 all-electric vans capable of making 120 stops a day, and DPD Westminster is running seven of these currently. DPD has also deployed eight micro-vehicles from Norwegian manufacturer Paxster at the Vandon Street site and has a further 23 on order. The Paxsters are delivering to the immediate area around the depot and are expected to operate 60 stops on one charge per day.

DPD Westminster is also home to the first DPD UK owned Pickup shop, with a dedicated access point for consumers collecting parcels from the site. The new shop will add to DPD's network of 2,500 Pickup sites across the UK, operated in partnership with brands such as Sainsbury's, Matalan and Halfords. DPD expects to invest in the region of £3m on the DPD Westminster depot over the next 10 years, while the site for its second all-electric London depot in Shoreditch has already been secured. DPD confirmed it is currently working on plans for a further six all-electric depots in the capital.