The 3.5t electric vans we want to use are just not available, which is why we’ve invested heavily in the smaller Nissan electric vans - but it’s not a long-term solution as we all want fewer vehicles on the road, not more.
DPD is experiencing challenges, with vehicle manufacturers preferring to produce left-hand drive all–electric vehicles to cater for larger European markets. The UK and Ireland are among the few European countries to use right-hand drive vehicles, and data from the European Automobile Manufacturers Association shows that in 2015 the UK and Ireland accounted for 14% of registered vans on the road. This fact clearly shows the potential market size for right-hand vehicles, and we call on manufacturers to make more right-hand vehicles; join our campaign voice at #needmoreelectric
With Rolec, our drivers simply request a home charger to be installed, and their Level 1 nationwide suppliers respond.
DPD also helps drivers to complete the government paperwork to ensure they receive a £500 grant towards set-up. DPD contributes a further £250 towards the drivers’ home charger's meaning the installation cost for them can be as little as £100.
This simple process and financial support help to encourage wider electric vehicle deployment by making switching to an electric vehicle as simple as possible for our drivers.
To help us create an all-electric micro-depot network we need stakeholders and property companies to give us access to new city centre locations.
Some people say why not take delivery depots out of the city, but that isn’t the answer as it just means vehicles have to drive longer distances and we have to use more of them, so there would be more vehicles on the road. What we want is fewer vehicles with more parcels on board, and a micro-delivery depot network is the best way to facilitate this.
Of course, it’s not just about London; we want to work closely with local authorities up and down the country to develop a network of city centre final mile micro-depots.
DPD Westminster was the first of our series of micro-depots in London and is part of a larger plan to expand the micro-depot model across the capital and the rest of the UK.
Watch the opening of our first all-electric depot in Westminster. It was a real game-changer, with both the deliveries in and out of the depot being made by all-electric vehicles.
The Shoreditch depot is a great example of DPD repurposing under-utilised and under-occupied space for intelligent final mile operations that enable large scale electric vehicle deployment. DPD secured the site on a 12 year lease, showing its commitment to developing the micro-distribution strategy.
In Peak 2019 (November to December), the depot reached its highest ever delivery volume, delivering 3,700 parcels in one day from the small but well located sites, and the depot management team celebrated this milestone, as shown in the picture here.
The depot extends DPD’s all-electric London proposition to three sites, with Hyde Park, working to service key delivery areas around Oxford Street.
The site is due to open in April 2020 following a complex and arduous legal process involving Westminster City Council and the Department for Transport (DfT).
The site is a great example of innovative thinking around property types and uses by DPD to show how repurposing under-utilised and unoccupied buildings can deliver zero-emission benefits for the residents of London.
What's more, with the DPD app we offer customers a range of in-flight options, so if they can't be there to receive their parcel, they have a choice of options to make sure they still get their parcel, and DPD doesn't have to make another journey.
In fact, in Christmas 2019, in one week alone we had 747,000 in-flight changes - that's a lot of return journeys avoided.
This technology does not come cheap, but having the latest technology means our drivers are super-efficient on their routes, and that means travelling fewer miles and generating less CO2.
This year we've travelled 649,000 fewer miles with our new cutting-edge route-control software.
In fact, we've reduced CO2 emissions by over 200 tonnes, the equivalent to planting 800 trees.
It's this great level of service that has led to DPD topping the Money Saving Expert poll for seven years running and being voted the UK's favourite parcel delivery company.
Here’s the story: We set out in 2018 to develop a 100% recyclable bag, working with a specialist provider, Povoas, to create a bag secure enough to protect our customers’ goods in transit. Povoas were keen to work with us to find the ideal solution. Unfortunately, the original material used, when put to the test, was far too thin to carry our customers’ goods securely. Povoas eventually found the right solution, a bag made from 80% reclaimed material, whilst being 100% recyclable made from waste from the agricultural industry, that would otherwise find its way to landfill, an extra benefit.
Why not made from 100% reclaimed material?
We would love nothing more than to use bags that are 100% reclaimed material, but if we do, the bags become so transparent and flimsy they are not fit for purpose.
We’re also promoting Refill, an innovative app that shows where our people can get a refill when they’re out and about delivering.
Would you like to own one of these lovely green bottles and ditch plastic?
Send us your green idea, and to the provider of the best idea each month, we'll send one of our lovely green bottles.
Only one in 200 plastic bags are currently recycled, which has to change.
Watch our film to see how we avoid landfill.
Our Oldbury and Hinckley hubs run fully on solar power during the day. In fact we can show you what we’ve generated at our sites on our chart here...
Last year we generated enough electricity to power 336 houses for a year from one of our hub sites.
We have installed LED lighting in our network, reducing electricity by a whopping 61% as the lights are on less and use less electricity when they are. All our new-builds have LED lighting too.
We’ve got tight control of our gas supply, and since we installed the equivalent of a smart meter throughout our whole network we've significantly reduced our gas consumption.
From October 2020, DPD has contracted with its suppliers for all 28 gigawatts we use per year to come from fully renewable sources.
The service is called Re Love and will raise cash for five national charities who are all keen to work with us and make this a new way to breathe life into pre-loved clothing.
Clothing is bagged up, reusing the previous packaging so we can keep it green. We don’t even need a label, and our driver will collect the bags when they arrive with the delivery.
We’ll take the clothing to the chosen charity and get pre-loved clothing to its new home in the greenest way possible.
This trailblazing project will be trialled in April with ASOS customers and we'll report back here with the results in June. Watch this space.
Anyone can apply for funding from the DPD Eco Fund, although we particularly encourage schools and educational facilities across the UK working on green projects with their students and start-up companies working on developing environmentally friendly products to apply.
The Eco Fund for 2020 has £140,000 to allocate to worthy sustainable projects, with typical funding per project being approximately £1,500.
Apply here if you have a green programme that needs funding.
Making the world a greener place, Pitmaston; keep up the great work!
Fabulous initiative Leintwardine; here's to a great growing season!
DPD was keen to help in any way it could, and since ORCA’s research relies on mobilising volunteers who need access to scientific equipment, we found a way to be of service. We ensure that wherever the volunteer is based, we will get the survey equipment delivered safely to them so that the kit is in the right place at the right time.
We’ve been supporting ORCA for three years now, in which time they have regularly published their findings and what they mean to these wonderful animals that make the sea their home.
ORCA’s critical research details the threats to our marine life and what we need to do to protect this special environment for both them and us; you can find their latest report here.
Here’s an example of how we are building awareness with our customer ASOS. This quarterly statement clearly shows the impact that ASOS is having on our environment by choosing DPD for its parcel delivery.
Offsetting starts with measuring your CO2 emissions, with that amount of C02 (your carbon footprint) offset by funding projects that reduce carbon emissions by the same amount.
DPDgroup offsets 100% of its transport and energy consumption, nearly 1,000,000 tonnes of CO2, making DPDgroup the number 1 for voluntary carbon offset in the express parcels market.
DPDgroup has also committed to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to combat climate action.
Our CO2 offsetting is externally audited and verified through our partner, CO2 logic.
Offsetting is done at no extra cost to our customers, and we are fully committed to reducing our overall emissions. For the full story on our Group and its commitment to the environment, find out more here:
DPD was the only parcel company amongst the 180 finalists with judges commending our innovative micro-depots in London and how we have reduced our emissions and helped shape the wider debate around sustainable urban deliveries.
DPD received 'Gold winner' status, with judges hailing our achievements in reducing CO2 emissions and our innovative all-electric micro-depots in London.
DPD received this award for our innovative approach to zero-emission deliveries via our Westminster and Shoreditch micro-depots, as well as our nationwide rollout of electric vehicles.
Live Green Statistics
Number of vehicles
YTD Parcels
Current Month Parcels
Last Week’s Parcels
YTD C02 (kg)
Current Month C02 (kg)
Last Week C02 (kg)
Our Electric-Assisted Cargo Bike
We’ve teamed up with EAV, a British start-up company, to perfect the world’s best electric-assisted cargo bike.
Our cargo bike will deliver increased productivity in the final mile, using cycle lanes where available.
We’ll deliver using the EAV P1 high quantities of small parcels, emission free, delivering on the streets of a number of cities throughout the UK.
The purpose-built quadracycle can carry a payload of 150 kg and with a 250 watt motor can help the rider accelerate to a maximum 15 mph. It has a range of up to 20 miles, electrically assisted, in a day, and over 100 parcel stops, and can be recharged using a normal 13 amp 240v plug socket.
| 150 kg payload |
| 100 parcel capacity |
| 15 mph electrically assisted |
| 250 watt motor |
Meet the Paxster
Our search for a new final mile delivery vehicle took us across Europe to Norway. DPD is the first UK company to import and operate the Paxster micro vehicle for electric final mile delivery.
The Paxster has 1 cubic metre of load space and a top speed of 30 mph and can hold around 140 small parcels.
| 200 kg payload |
| 1 m3 parcel capacity |
| 30 mph speed |
| 60 miles a charge |
| 9.2 kWh battery |
| 2332 mm length |
Final mile delivery from the Nissan e-NV200
The Nissan e-NV200 all-electric vehicle is capable of making 120 final mile parcel deliveries per day on just one charge and, obviously, with zero emissions.
The e-NV200 is incredibly efficient and works well in a city centre environment with its compact, easily accessible loadspace.
We are delighted to have 117 of these vehicles on our all-electric fleet, and we have a total of 300 on order for 2020.
| 660 kg payload |
| 4.2 m3 volume |
| 122 miles a charge |
| 40 kWh battery |
| 4560 mm length |
The Peugeot ePartner, a stylish addition to our electric fleet
The Peugeot ePartner was one of DPD’s first trial electric vehicles, based at our London City depot. We have now welcomed five to our fleet. These first generation vehicles were carefully deployed onto selected low mileage routes on which we could assess performance.
The Peugeot ePartner played an important role in helping DPD prepare for large scale electric vehicle deployment.
| 636 kg payload |
| 3.3 m3 volume |
| 100 miles a charge |
| 22.5 kWh battery |
| 4380 mm length |
The fully-electric Mercedes-Benz eVito
DPD has 10 of the 3.2t long-bodied version of this ground-breaking model, which has zero tailpipe emissions, on its fleet.
The eVito is perfect in city centre locations, helping to improve air quality, and whilst it needs significantly more investment than its diesel equivalent, we believe that’s an investment well made.
The Mercedes-Benz eVito is fully recharged in six hours, which gives it a range of approximately 93 miles
| 1073 kg payload |
| 6 m3 volume |
| 93 miles a charge |
| 41.4 kWh battery |
| 5140 mm length |
Mitsubishi Fuso eCanter
DPD received one of the UK’s first battery-powered 7.5 tonne trucks.
The FUSO eCanter serves DPD’s first all-electric depot in Westminster and is central to DPD’s green urban strategy. The first 7.5 tonne fully electric truck delivers parcels into the Westminster depot, which makes DPD the first to market with a fully electric depot operation.
These trucks are not commercially available yet, and DPD is one of only four companies to have received these vehicles in the UK.
The FUSO eCanter has a battery capacity of 83 kWh with a range of up to 62 miles, has a long service life and is highly efficient.
The vehicle can be charged up to 80% capacity within an hour with quick charging, an essential asset for a busy operation.
| Only four UK companies have Fuso vehicles |
| 4.2 tonne payload |
| 26 m3 volume |
| 62 miles a charge |
| 83 kWh battery |
| 6235 mm length |
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