Delivery firm DPD has opened an all-electric parcel depot as part of wider plans to reduce its carbon footprint.

The company said the facility in Westminster in central London now used only electric vehicles for bringing parcels in and delivering them to customers to save an initial 45 tonnes of CO2 a year.

The site handles 2,000 parcels a day, and DPD said it was the first of a planned seven more all-electric depots in the capital.

Electric vehicles outside DPD Westminster. (Picture credit: Mark Williamson)
Electric vehicles outside DPD Westminster. (Mark Williamson)

DPD said it expected to invest around £3 million in the DPD Westminster depot over the next 10 years, while the site for its second all-electric London depot in Shoreditch has also been secured.

Chief executive Dwain McDonald said: “Reducing and neutralising our carbon footprint, providing smarter and more efficient urban delivery solutions and driving innovation are at the heart of DPD’s DrivingChange programme.

“There are still significant external issues to be overcome in terms of the infrastructure to support an all-electric fleet on the scale we need, across the whole of central London. But I’m delighted with our proposition here and we will continue to work with the key stakeholders to realise our aims and support the Mayor of London and TfL’s ambition for a cleaner and less congested capital.”

London’s Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy, Shirley Rodrigues, said: “London’s toxic air contributes to thousands of early deaths each year and is putting the health of children at risk, so it’s good to see businesses like DPD preparing for the Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) and helping protect Londoners’ health by transforming their delivery fleet.

“The Mayor’s ambition is for all new cars and vans to be zero-emission from 2030 and I hope this is the first of many all-electric delivery depots in London.”