StreetScooter to build second manufacturing facility in Düren; expands capacity up to 10,000 e-vehicles per year

With factories in both Aachen and Düren, StreetScooter will reach the production capacities announced this year of up to 20,000 e-vehicles per annum.

• Post subsidiary builds second factory in Düren
• Expected total production up to 20,000 e-vehicles per year with 250 employees
• Latest models now with higher top speed and range
• Cars with fuel cell drives now in testing
• StreetScooter focusing on industry-specific solutions

BONN/AACHEN, 06-Oct-2017 — /EuropaWire/ — StreetScooter GmbH is expanding its engagement in e-mobility and its R&D in alternative drive concepts. A subsidiary of Deutsche Post DHL Group, StreetScooter, confirmed that its second manufacturing facility will be built in Düren and be capable of producing up to 10,000 e-vehicles per year. Operations at the 78,000 square meter facility, owned by the automotive supplier Neapco, will begin in the second quarter of 2018. The new site will employ some 250 people in the area. With factories in both Aachen and Düren, StreetScooter will reach the production capacities announced this year of up to 20,000 e-vehicles per annum, with another expansion possible if the facility switches to two or even three shift operations.

“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, CEO 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.”

Deutsche Post DHL Group testing cars with fuel cell drives

With Deutsche Post DHL Group and a number of third-party customers looking to cost-effectively increase range for use in other applications, the company is now producing the currently available model also with boosted performance: Joining the current vehicle that features a range of 80 kilometers and a top speed of approximately 85 km/h will be a new model that boasts a range of 200 kilometers and a top speed of around 120 km/h.

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 kilometers and Deutsche Post DHL Group is planning test runs for the next two years.

Industry-specific solutions

For its third-party sales, StreetScooter is dedicating more of its efforts to industry-specific solutions. The best example is the so-called “Bakery Vehicle One” (BV1), an electric 3.5 ton van that the company has developed together with bakery companies for bakeries and other trades. In response to a fruitless search for a cost-effective electric van for their own businesses, some 200 small businesses had formed an “e-van self-help group” and issued a call for tenders to find a suitable e-vehicle. StreetScooter and others participated. The result: Ten versions of the BV1 each with two battery sizes are now available for ordering. Chassis variants will be built by StreetScooter in partnership with the company TBZ Fahrzeugbau. Prices start at EUR42,950 (i.e. EUR38,950 once you deduct the EUR4,000 environmental bonus). StreetScooter has already received more than 100 advance orders.

Other industries also have a need for customized e-vans, and StreetScooter is already either in talks or enjoying active business relationships with them. They are energy providers, waste disposal companies, municipalities and airports, facility management enterprises and catering companies. StreetScooter will produce variants tailored to serve a variety of individual needs with such features as variable loading volumes that include power supply, refrigerated containers and tilting load platforms.

“The boost in production capacity will make us better and faster in our efforts to serve third-party customers and meet their heavy demand for our e-vehicles,” explains Achim Kampker, CEO of StreetScooter GmbH. “In addition, our industry focus and flexible manufacturing methods have put us in a position to produce electric vehicles customized for customers from industry, municipalities and trade. That is something unique on the commercial vehicles market.”

SOURCE: Deutsche Post AG

MEDIA CONTACT

Alexander Edenhofer
Spokesperson: Postal products and services,  DHL eCommerce, Mobility (Post Reisen), E-Mobility / StreetScooter