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DHL and Ford to develop new electric drive vehicle with hydrogen technology

DHL Express, Ford and electric vehicle maker StreetScooter have announced their collaboration on a new electric delivery vehicle.
The new “H2 Panel Van” will become the first 4.25 tonne electric vehicle with an added fuel cell, which will provide additional power and enable a range up to 500 kilometres.

In a first step, DHL Express has ordered 100 of the fuel cell vehicles, with delivery expected from 2020 through 2021.

For Markus Reckling, CEO DHL Express Germany, the new van fits in to the Group’s larger environmental goals. “With the H2 Panel Van, DHL Express becomes the first express provider to use a larger number of electric vehicles with fuel cells for last-mile logistics. This underscores our aspiration to be not only the fastest and most reliable provider on the market, but also the most climate friendly,” he says.

“We firmly believe that fuel cells will play an increasing role in electric-powered transport, since they can give battery electric vehicles the kind of range that is so important for so many customers,” says Schmitt. “With the Panel Van, StreetScooter begins yet another chapter in its proud history of innovation and enters into a new growth phase,” Fabian Schmitt, Chief Technical Officer at StreetScooter GmbH said.

The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Transport and Digital Infrastructure (BMVI) as part of its National Innovation Programme Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technology (NIP II).

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