StreetScooter, part of Deutsche Post DHL, is to expand e-vehicle production capacity by 10,000 units a year with construction of a 78,000 sqm factory at Düren. Production is due to start in the second quarter of 2018.
The new facility, together with the existing site at Aachen will give it a capacity of 20,000 vehicles a year. The new site, which is owned by automotive supplier Neapco, is halfway between Aachen and Cologne.
“We are now beginning the next phase of development at StreetScooter and showing the world the extraordinary powers of innovation at Deutsche Post DHL,” says Jürgen Gerdes, chief executive of Post – eCommerce – Parcel at Deutsche Post DHL Group. “Our goal is and remains market leadership in green logistics. We will therefore continue to focus on e-mobility and other alternative drive concepts to further reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
The current vehicle has a range of 80km and Deutsche Post DHL is looking to add a new model with a range of 200km and a top speed of 120kmph.
In addition, Deutsche Post is now testing several hundred StreetScooter WORK L’s equipped for the first time with fuel cell drives. These vehicles could travel over 500 kilometres and Deutsche Post DHL Group is planning test runs for the next two years.