The Germans are known for adopting new innovations in the automotive industry, and lately they’ve been all over the electric car trend. German car manufacturers are converting everything from affordable compact hatchbacks to premium automobiles with more luxury than the most expensive Tesla to polar bear-friendly power. Unfortunately, even if we make electric every commercial vehicle, the roads will still be full of gas-guzzling delivery trucks. Ford and the Deutsche Post delivery are partnering to alleviate that problem. The companies will work together to create a standard zero-emission delivery van for Germany. They hope to make your deliveries not only faster, but greener, too.
Ford-Werke GmbH, Ford’s German division, is recruiting the Deutsche Post’s subsidiary StreetScooter GmbH to build an electric van for Germany, according to a Ford press release today. This subsidiary is already famous in the van world for building cheap electric vans for mass production, so Ford’s latest project is in good hands.
Ford will provide its dynamic Transit van to use as the foundation, and StreetScooter will design the batteries and make sure the vehicle is up to DHL’s delivery van standards. Production will start in July, and Ford plans to build more than 2,500 vehicles by 2019. If this project is a success, it will be the largest electric delivery vehicle operation in Europe.
This partnership is good news for StreetScooter, too, which plans to expand its operation to build over 20,000 of its own electric vans per year.
Ford hopes that its program in Germany will cause other manufacturers to build these vehicles in other parts of the world, and make our planet a little healthier.