When two huge companies join forces, amazing things can happen.
Nike and Apple have worked together since the early 2000s. Covergirl and Lucasfilm partnered for the “light” and “dark” sides of makeup. Go Pro and Red Bull came up with “Stratos”. And now: Ford and DHL have developed a new electric truck.
How could this electric truck change the shipping environment and the global environment?
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Ford is a major automobile corporation and DHL is a major shipping corporation. Though much of DHL originated in Germany and Ford in the U.S., the two companies joined forces. As a result of their tandem effort, they created an electric truck that expands on established DHL research. The Streetscooter WORK and WORK L had been in production for awhile, so the collaboration with Ford has an appropriate name: the Streetscooter WORK XL.
Why Streetscooter WORK XL?
Well, it’s built on the Ford transit chassis and is bigger than the WORK and WORK L models.
It can also handle a more significant payload of 1,350 KG or 200 parcels. The truck is meant to replace commonly used diesel alternatives and, as mentioned, it is entirely electric. So how can this new e-van improve CO2 emissions?
Small Packages; Big Effects
The van features a battery system that can hold between 30 and 90 kWh of energy. This means that a van could drive between 80 – 200 km or 50 – 124 miles on a single charge. With a planned initial fleet of 2,500 vehicles, the opportunity to offset CO2 emissions is massive. In fact, a single gallon of gasoline creates 20 pounds of CO2.
For further perspective, the Streetscooter WORK XL can save 1,900 liters of diesel and 5 tons of CO2 per year. Multiply that by the intended fleet of vehicles and the DHL & Ford team-up will save 4.75 million liters of fuel and 12,500 tonnes of CO2 PER YEAR.
Starting with 150 early build e-vans, the companies plan to roll out all 2,500 trucks by late 2018. DHL has also expressed openness to selling the proprietary model to third parties.
Other Companies Are Researching Electric Trucks, Too
Shipping companies such as UPS and FedEx are also getting into the environment conscious vehicle game. Though they have no allies as huge as Ford, UPS has numerous California companies helping to implement the world’s first fuel cell electric class 6 delivery truck.
FedEx does utilize hybrid delivery trucks which do exhibit slightly better fuel economy. However, the result are nothing compared to those of the DHL and Ford Streetscooter WORK XL.
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