DPD has ordered 300 of Nissan e-NV200 electric vans, more than tripling the courier’s current total EV tally to 450 by May.

The firm is aiming for 10% of vehicles at all of its 68 UK depots to be electric by the end of the year as part of a strategy to be the most sustainable city centre delivery company in the UK.

The Nissan e-NV200 already makes up the majority of DPD’s fleet, with 91 already successfully delivering parcels over the past 18 months.

The new vehicles will be dispatched to DPD depots across the country in the coming weeks, where they will be used for local, multi-drop deliveries, travelling up to 100 miles a day.

Dwain McDonald, DPD’s CEO, said: “This is a real landmark day in the move to a more sustainable future for the parcel industry. These vehicles are changing the way we work. It isn’t just a case of plugging them in and saying, ‘job done’.

“We are rethinking and re-engineering how we deliver parcels now and in the future with different route networks and new types of depots.

“It is an all-encompassing revolution for our industry and electric, emission-free vehicles are at the heart of that vision.”

Peter McDonald, fleet director at Nissan Motor GB, added: “It’s exciting to see a company built on delivering on time and to schedule proving that an electric vehicle can work for them, while also making such a large commitment to reducing their carbon footprint.

“We’re seeing increased demand for the e-NV200 as more businesses look for an all-electric alternative. Nissan is able to deliver a fantastic product for them and fast.”

Feedback from drivers so far has been very positive, thanks to the quiet and relaxing drive, it said.

The company has also spent time training its employees on how to adapt to driving an electric vehicle (EV), with vehicle handover sessions.

DPD expects to charge the vehicles overnight at its depots, and will decide where to deploy the EVs each day using its in-house route calculation and vehicle optimisation systems.

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