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That's essentially what the German Post did. They developed their own all electric van the streetscooter. Unfortunately they could not turn it into a viable bus

That's essentially what the German Post did. They developed their own all electric van the streetscooter. Unfortunately they could not turn it into a viable business and sell enough units to others, so they shuttered the operation last year. Quite unfortunate, because I believe the project was well ahead of its time.

moooo99 6y ago
iirc German Post didn't really develop the Streetscoter [1] themselves, instead they acquired the company that did. It was a start up lead by a professor from university Aachen and from what I can remember, they had quite a lot of problems besides the ones you mentioned. There were a lot of recalls and other problems, especially towards the end of the company [2] The post employees also often complained about the relatively high loading edge for the storage box, which makes it super hard to load and unload heavy packages. Regardless of the problems, I think it was a really good idea and a rather cool looking vehicle. And when it comes to urban streets in Germany, the street scooter probably was the perfect vehicle when it comes to space requirements. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StreetScooter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StreetScooter [2] (German) https://www.businessinsider.de/gruenderszene/allgemein/streetscooter-probleme-im-winter/ https://www.businessinsider.de/gruenderszene/allgemein/stree... [3] (German) https://www.elektroauto-news.net/elektroautos/streetscooter-groessere-problemen-als-bisher-geahnt https://www.elektroauto-news.net/elektroautos/streetscooter-...
- froh 6y ago
  and they developed it it "by themselves" i.e. by a company they acquired for that purpose, because neither the volkswagen group, nor mercedes/daimler were able or willing to just shipmelectric local delivery mini vans. last year deutsche post lost two streetscooter CEOs for "diverging opinions on the future of streetscooter". deutsche post is now trying to sell their subsidiary.
kwhitefoot 6y ago
Th Norwegian Post Office uses electric vehicles. I saw one in the street in Drammen this morning. See https://elbil.no/posten-elbil/ https://elbil.no/posten-elbil/
Gravityloss 6y ago
Local postal company started using Swiss electric tricycles, though slightly customized. I imagine they aren't cheap to buy, but maybe total cost of ownership is reasonable? Also I assume they can tolerate winters well compared to two wheeled vehicles, yet can navigate narrow spaces. https://www.post.ch/en/about-us/responsibility/our-priorities/delivery-by-electric-scooter https://www.post.ch/en/about-us/responsibility/our-prioritie...

moooo99 6y ago

iirc German Post didn't really develop the Streetscoter [1] themselves, instead they acquired the company that did. It was a start up lead by a professor from university Aachen and from what I can remember, they had quite a lot of problems besides the ones you mentioned. There were a lot of recalls and other problems, especially towards the end of the company [2] The post employees also often complained about the relatively high loading edge for the storage box, which makes it super hard to load and unload heavy packages. Regardless of the problems, I think it was a really good idea and a rather cool looking vehicle. And when it comes to urban streets in Germany, the street scooter probably was the perfect vehicle when it comes to space requirements. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StreetScooter https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/StreetScooter [2] (German) https://www.businessinsider.de/gruenderszene/allgemein/streetscooter-probleme-im-winter/ https://www.businessinsider.de/gruenderszene/allgemein/stree... [3] (German) https://www.elektroauto-news.net/elektroautos/streetscooter-groessere-problemen-als-bisher-geahnt https://www.elektroauto-news.net/elektroautos/streetscooter-...

froh 6y ago
and they developed it it "by themselves" i.e. by a company they acquired for that purpose, because neither the volkswagen group, nor mercedes/daimler were able or willing to just shipmelectric local delivery mini vans. last year deutsche post lost two streetscooter CEOs for "diverging opinions on the future of streetscooter". deutsche post is now trying to sell their subsidiary.

kwhitefoot 6y ago

Th Norwegian Post Office uses electric vehicles. I saw one in the street in Drammen this morning. See https://elbil.no/posten-elbil/ https://elbil.no/posten-elbil/

Gravityloss 6y ago

Local postal company started using Swiss electric tricycles, though slightly customized. I imagine they aren't cheap to buy, but maybe total cost of ownership is reasonable? Also I assume they can tolerate winters well compared to two wheeled vehicles, yet can navigate narrow spaces. https://www.post.ch/en/about-us/responsibility/our-priorities/delivery-by-electric-scooter https://www.post.ch/en/about-us/responsibility/our-prioritie...