DPD begin trials with LEVC electric vans

25 June 2020 | David Young

Testing will take place over the next few months with 25 DPD partners, purposely chosen from a diverse range of industries - tool & equipment hire, energy suppliers and postal service companies

DPD begin trials with LEVC electric vans

Joerg Hofmann, LEVC CEO, commented, "We are delighted that DPD is the first company to begin testing of our VN5 taxi-van prototypes. These real-world tests mark a milestone occasion in the history of LEVC, as the company continues its transformation from an iconic British taxi brand to a leading electric vehicle manufacturer.

The VN5 has been built with a large side-loading door (enabling a pallet to be side-loaded) and a 60/40 split door at the rear to make loading and unloading easy for the driver.

Based on the same architecture and proven eCity range-extender technology as LEVC's TX electric taxi, VN5 offers the same electric powertrain with a pure EV range of 63 miles (102 km) and with a total flexible range of 301 miles (485 km).

Dwain McDonald, DPD's CEO commented, "It is great to work with LEVC. It is such an iconic British brand and another great Midlands-based business. We are keen to see how the technology works for us. It is a very flexible solution and it could well help solve a few challenges. It is very smart, and we like that. For example, we could use geo-fencing so that it switches automatically to electric-only on entering urban areas, including low emissions zones. We will certainly give it a good test and we'll see how it works out."