UPS working with ARRIVAL on electric vehicles for London and Paris
UPS is working with the technology company ARRIVAL to develop a pilot fleet of 35 electric delivery vehicles (EVs) to be trialed in London and Paris.
The ARRIVAL vehicles have a battery range of more than 240km, which UPS says is “significantly higher than other EVs currently in service”, and are equipped with Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS).
Luke Wake, international director for automotive engineering in the advanced technology group at UPS, commented: “UPS is working with ARRIVAL here in the UK because their smart electric vehicles are helping to reduce dependency on fossil fuel. This is a pioneering collaboration that helps UPS develop new ways to reduce our emissions.
“UPS is marshaling its global scale to encourage innovation within the automotive industry. We are helping to drive demand for these disruptive technologies. The result is a safer and cleaner fleet for the communities in which we deliver.”
Peter Harris, director for sustainability at UPS Europe, added: “This initiative will help UPS attain its global carbon reduction goals for the company’s facilities and fleets.
“We will continue working with our partners, communities and customers to spark innovation, thus leading the industry toward a more sustainable future.”
As previously reported by Post&Parcel, UPS also announced last month that it had installed a new charging technology at its central London depot in Camden that overcomes the challenge of simultaneously recharging an entire fleet of EVs without the need for an expensive upgrade to the power supply grid.
UPS first introduced electric vehicles into its US fleet in the 1930s, and reintroduced modern EVs in 2001. Currently, UPS has more than 300 electric vehicles deployed in Europe and the U.S., and nearly 700 hybrid electric vehicles.
ARRIVAL is the first commercial vehicle manufacturer in Europe to provide purpose-built electric delivery vehicles to UPS’s specifications. Since 2016, UPS and ARRIVAL have been developing prototypes of different sizes, and the first vehicles are expected to be deployed on the road before the end of this year.
Denis Sverdlov, CEO of ARRIVAL, commented: “We’re excited to collaborate with UPS to create an affordable, modular, fully electric delivery vehicle designed to make deliveries in our busy cities clean and quiet,” said “With its unique, wrap-around front window the driver has a much wider field of view that improves not only the safety of the driver but also that of cyclists and pedestrians.”
ARRIVAL has also supplied electric delivery vehicles to Royal Mail.
