UPS adds 600 electric delivery vans from Iveco eDaily and accelerates electrification.

The US package delivery service UPS has announced the expansion of its electric vehicle fleet. The introduction of the new vehicles is part of a comprehensive electrification initiative by the provider in Europe. In total, the company will put 600 electric vehicles into operation in Europe this year, of which 100 Iveco eDaily (Type P45E) have already been put into service in Paris.

This year, a total of 192 new electric vehicles are to be put into operation, including 188 in Germany and 4 in Switzerland. The measure is an essential part of UPS's strategy to reduce emissions in parcel delivery and to replace 40 percent of road fuel consumption with alternative energies by 2025.

120 of the new vehicles for Germany and the necessary charging infrastructure are being subsidized by the Federal Ministry for Digital and Transport with a total of 6.4 million euros. The funding is part of the guideline for promoting light and heavy commercial vehicles with alternative, environmentally friendly drives and the associated refueling and charging infrastructure (KsNI). The funding guideline is coordinated by NOW GmbH, and applications are approved by the Federal Office for Logistics and Mobility.

New vehicles for Germany and Switzerland

The new vehicles are IVECO eDaily vehicles converted in Germany according to UPS-specific requirements. A total of 49 3.8-tonners with 14 cubic meters of loading volume (P45E) will be put into operation, four of them in Switzerland, as well as 106 7.2-tonners with 23 cubic meters of loading volume (P80E) and 37 7.2-tonners with 28 cubic meters of loading volume (P100E). The vehicles are equipped with batteries with a charging capacity of 74 kWh (P45E) and 111 kWh (P80E and P100E). All vehicles have electric motors with an output of 90 kW.

230 kilometers of range are sufficient

The electric vehicles have a range of up to 230 km, a continuously variable electric drive that allows for smoother driving, and are made of fully recyclable polypropylene instead of aluminum, achieving a weight reduction of up to 30 percent. The vehicles are charged at night in the branches. The logistics provider exclusively purchases electricity from renewable sources at all German branches (last audited in 2023). The new electric delivery vehicles will gradually be put into service later this year. Among others, branches in Bielefeld, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt Fechenheim, Hamburg, Herne, Karlsruhe, Kirchheim near Munich, Cologne, Langenhagen (near Hanover), Nuremberg, Wendlingen, and Bülach near Zurich in Switzerland are set to receive new vehicles.