Public EV charging app Bonnet has partnered with parcel delivery company DPD, which is aiming for the largest all-electric delivery fleet.
The partnership will provide DPD’s UK EV drivers with access to its 32,000 charging locations in the UK. Bonet said it will help facilitate DPD’s ‘clean, green delivery’ mission, particularly its aim to become the largest all-electric delivery fleet in the UK and the most sustainable delivery company.
“DPD is committed to sustainable development, and on the cusp of significant scale up of its EV fleet. This marries with Bonnet’s mission to make public charging simpler and equitable for everyone that wants to switch to EVs,” Bonnet's co-founder and CEO Patrick Reich said. “The app also ensures DPD drivers have real-time information on chargepoint availability at their fingertips.”
DPD has an ambitious growth and investment plan for a greener delivery network. The parcel delivery firm has already announced plans to have over 3,000 electric vehicles on the road in the UK this year and 5,000 by 2023, when it will be delivering to 30 towns and cities using all-electric vehicles, the statement said.
Commenting on the development, Olly Craughan, Head of Sustainability at DPD UK, said: “The app will complement our own charging infrastructure and help our EV drivers access the public charging network in a timely and efficient way, whenever they need it.”
Craughan further said within the next 18 months they would go from 10 UK towns and cities served by an all-electric DPD fleet, to 30, and more than double our EV fleet. “Bonnet will help us keep those vans moving and delivering clean and green for customers.”
In 2020, DPD managed to make 10% of its fleet electric in just 7 months, 5 months ahead of schedule.