DPD has taken delivery of the first 10 EAV P1 electric assist cargo bikes, to deliver parcels in congested urban areas. 

Five have already been deployed  on the streets of London, York and Newbury.

Five more are being sent to DPD's business units in Ireland, Spain, Germany, Portugal and France to help support British manufacturing overseas.

Dwain McDonald, DPD's chief executive said: “This is an entirely new type of vehicle and is designed specifically to meet the current challenges for delivery firms in the urban environment.

“The early trials show that the P1 is performing really well and clearly has potential to be more efficient for us than traditional vans in certain locations.

“It is highly manoeuvrable, can carry a good day’s worth of parcels and can often get closer to delivery addresses than the vans."

The purpose-built, environmentally-focused quadracycle measures 2m long by 1m wide, weighs 120kg and can carry a 120kg payload.

The 250 watt motor helps the rider accelerate to an initial 3.7mph on a boost/hill start assist button and then on to a maximum pedal-assisted 15mph.

The new bikes can cover a range of up to 60 miles in a day delivering 100 parcels and then be recharged using a normal 13amp, 240v plug socket.

Batteries can also be swapped to keep the P1 in constant operational use but can be fully charged in less than six hours.

DPD currently operates 8,000 vehicles from 65 locations and delivers 250 million parcels a year, however, it hopes to increase its fleet of electric vehicles to 500 by the end of 2020.

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