BERLIN, Aug. 16 (Xinhua) -- The Deutsche Post DHL Group and Ford presented their jointly produced electric transporter in Cologne on Wednesday following the announcement of the cooperation in June.
Both companies are "thrilled" about the collaboration and would consequently "think about additional joint activities," member of the Deutsche Post AG board of management Juergen Gerdes said. The planned location for a second production site in North-Rhine Westphalia is expected to be announced within the next month.
Steven Armstrong, Ford Motor Company Vice President and President Europe praised the project as a big step on the way towards cleaner buses, cars and delivery vehicles.
The vehicle named "StreetScooter WORK XL" is based on the Ford Transit chassis equipped with a battery-powered drive train and a car body set up according to Deutsche Post DHL Group's requirements.
According to company data, the van has a range of between 80 and 200 kilometers. Its modular battery system has an average charging time of three hours. Next to the two smaller models StreetScooter Work and Work L, the new WORK XL is the company's third and largest electric van model.
Gerdes, spoke of an "optimal vehicle for the delivery of parcels in large cities," which would enable the company to cope with the increasing volume of deliveries in an environment friendly and quiet manner. The electric delivery van will reduce carbon dioxide emissions by five tons and safe 1,900 liters of diesel annually, according to Gerdes.
Deutsche Post DHL Group owns Germany's largest fleet of electric vehicles with over 3,000 electric delivery vans and around 10,500 pedelecs.
Around 150 pre-production vehicles of the transporter are to be built at the StreetScooter plant in Aachen and will be used by the German postal service for package delivery. Both companies are currently planning to produce 2,500 vehicles of this model by the end of 2018. Like the previous models, the new van is planned to be sold to third parties as well.
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