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20. January 2021 | Press release

Green light for climate protection: DPD Germany is launching a mobility hub in Berlin together with ONO, Swobbee and Sprint

  • Following successful completion of the cross-provider project on the cooperative use of micro-depots (KoMoDo), DPD is now opening its own micro-depot in Berlin
  • Two electric cargo bikes from ONO will be deployed in the surrounding districts of the capital
  • With a local battery swap station on the premises of the nearby Sprint filling station, Swobbee ensures intelligent energy supplies without interrupting ongoing operations
  • Near to the site Sprint is also providing a 75KW high-performance charging station.


Berlin, 20 January 2021 – In the hall of a former Berlin car repair shop which has been converted into a modern parcel handling centre DPD Germany is now putting a micro-depot into operation. With two leading-edge, heavy-duty electric cargo bikes from the Berlin start-up ONO and four additional cargo bikes, locally emission-free parcel deliveries will be made to the surrounding districts of Friedrichshain, Prenzlauer Berg, Pankow and Lichtenberg. Initially the volume will be 400 parcels per day, with quantities rising in future thanks to the possibility of re-loading the cargo bikes at the micro-depot.

 

The micro-depot in Berlin is a further building block in DPD's DrivingChangeTM sustainability strategy. This is the company's response to the rising volume of parcels generated by the rapid growth in e-commerce. Along the last mile the interplay of micro-depots, electric cargo bikes and intelligent charging infrastructure is both efficient and environmentally friendly, especially in residential areas with a high density of consignees and a large number of stops.

As the micro-depot is supplied in the morning by an electrically powered VW eCrafter, locally the delivery of these parcels is completely free from emissions.

An all-round transport system ensures efficiency gains 

DPD already has experience in parcel delivery with cargo bikes in Berlin:

"We supplied parts of the delivery area with pedelec bikes during our participation in the KoMoDo cross-provider cargo bike project, which was funded by the federal government. In the process we also discovered that there was still potential for development in the available cargo bike models, especially in the areas of reliability and after sales. We have used different models here as well as in other cities over an extended period of time. We are pleased to be able to deploy another professional model in the form of the three-wheeled e-cargo bike ONO PAT, and are looking forward to working with it," explains Gerd Seber, Group Manager Sustainability & Innovation at DPD. "After the end of the KoMoDo project we started looking for suitable locations for our own micro-depot, and found what we were looking for on the edge of the Prenzlauer Berg district. The surrounding delivery area mainly consists of private consignees, and the stop density of the delivery tours is correspondingly high. Such areas are ideally suited for parcel deliveries by cargo bike."

The DPD micro-depot is located next to the Sprint petrol station in Kniprode Street. The company started to adapt to the change in mobility at an early stage. A 75KW high-performance charging station is already in operation at the Sprint filling station, which can also be used by the VW eCrafter that supplies the micro-depot, together with a modern battery swap station operated by the Berlin battery-as-a-service provider Swobbee. From now on this will also be used by the micro-depot to supply the cargo bikes with energy. Empty batteries can be exchanged for full ones at the Swobbee station in a matter of seconds. As a result the e-fleet will always remain mobile and DPD will not need to set up and operate its own charging infrastructure. The innovative electric cargo bikes from ONO look like small e-vans and have a range of around 60 kilometres. With their powerful GreenPack batteries and exchangeable cargo units with a capacity of 2m³ each they are ideal for professional use in city logistics.

"We are delighted to be supporting the pioneering DPD micro-depot in Berlin with our modern battery swapping system. We're convinced that we are offering a modern and trend-setting form of inner-city delivery," explains Ludwig Speidel, CFO of Swobbee.

Mathias Drews, Head of Sales at ONO, adds:

"Founded in 2016, ONOMOTION GmbH is both an innovative vehicle manufacturer and a provider of smart mobility solutions – and it is rethinking and developing inner-city mobility. To make big cities emission-free, safer and quieter ONOMOTION offers solutions for cleaner and more flexible logistics, and creates space for a people-friendly city. Thanks to the use of the new microhub in Kniprode Street as an inner-city goods transfer point, scheduled deliveries with guaranteed delivery times are no longer a dream for the future, in spite of the rapidly increasing demand for transport. The partnership between DPD as a logistics service provider, Swobbee as a battery-as-a-service energy supplier and the networked vehicles from ONOMOTION opens up a new chapter in city logistics in terms of being able to deliver to customers faster, more efficiently and emission-free along the critical last mile."

Volker Kretschmer, Managing Director of Sprint Tank GmbH, adds:

"The project is a labour of love for us. Because of its infrastructure and demographic location the Sprint filling station in Kniprode Street has for some time been our pilot mobility hub in terms of alternative and sustainable mobility offers. We started here early on with the first Swobbee battery swap station and only a little later introduced Diesel protect25, a particularly sustainable diesel fuel offering 25% CO² savings compared to conventional diesel. This was followed by our first 75KW high-performance charging station, which we recently put into operation. We therefore didn't hesitate for a second when we received a request from DPD and the project partners ONO and Swobbee to join them in creating a sustainable micro-depot. As a proud partner we fully support the initiative and see the location as the launch pad for the filling station of the future."

About DPD Germany

DPD Germany is part of DPDgroup, the largest international parcel delivery network in Europe. Throughout Germany DPD has 79 depots and 7,000 Pickup parcelshops. A workforce of 9,500 and 11,000 delivery drivers are in daily operation on behalf of the company’s customers. Every year the No. 2 on the German parcels market ships around 375 million parcels – providing carbon-neutral transport operations at no additional cost to the customer. With a number of initiatives for sustainable parcel delivery DPD is demonstrating, particularly in city centres, how parcel shipping can be made environmentally friendly and emission-free at the local level.

Through innovative technology, local knowledge and dedicated customer care, DPD provides the best possible experience for both shippers and shoppers. DPD’s industry-leading Predict service is setting a new standard for keeping customers closely in touch with their delivery, with real time tracking of their delivery, a one-hour delivery window and a range of options for redirecting parcels. In recognition of this innovation DPD Germany received several awards like the Digital Transformation Award or the UX Design Award.

As part of DPDgroup, DPD Germany has access to over 46,000 local Pickup points worldwide, and delivers to 230 countries and territories across the globe. DPDgroup’s 77,000 delivery experts work together to deliver more than 5.3 million parcels each day. The sole shareholder in DPD is GeoPost, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Le Groupe La Poste. GeoPost posted sales of €7.8 billion in the year 2019.

About Swobbee

As a leading battery-as-a-service (BaaS) provider, Swobbee GmbH supports companies in the field of micro-mobility in creating an efficient and sustainable energy infrastructure. Swobbee's mission is to establish a mobile and sustainable energy network in order to actively shape the energy and mobility turnaround. In addition to comprehensive BaaS services, with its battery swapping system (BSS) Swobbee offers the world's first battery sharing system across manufacturers with an intermodal approach towards micro-mobility. This enables the company and its local partners to offer the risk-free, cost-benefit-optimised use of a variety of electro-mobile equipment such as electric cargo bikes, electric scooters, e-kickscooters and gardening machinery. For more information, please visit https://swobbee.de/

About ONOMOTION GmbH

The European mobility service provider ONO conceives and develops the inner-city mobility of the future. ONO's goal is to create practical new solutions for effectively improving the public wellbeing and inspiring people worldwide to help shape the transformation of urban mobility.

ONO empowers its team to design and implement innovative and much-needed mobility solutions aimed at connecting communities, businesses and individuals. The company is developing a completely new kind of urban vehicle - starting with the Pedal Assisted Transporter, which it produces with and for its customers in order to achieve maximum efficiency and an enjoyable ride experience.

The founders Beres Seelbach (CEO), Murat Günak (CDO) and Philipp Kahle (CTO) have more than 30 years of combined experience in the field of e-mobility. Beres Seelbach founded his first company "Lautlos durch Deutschland" (Noiselessly through Germany) at the age of 24. Murat Günak is a former chief designer for the Volkswagen Group and co-founded the electric vehicle manufacturer mia electric in 2010. Philipp Kahle specialises in light electric vehicles and has already worked on charging infrastructures at the firm of GreenPack mobile energy solutions. The goal of rethinking and redesigning urban mobility brought them together and led to the founding of Tretbox GmbH in May 2016 (now ONOMOTION GmbH). The company is based in Berlin and currently has 31 employees, who share the vision of its founders and are passionate about implementing it every day.

About Sprint

Sprint Tank GmbH, which is independent of international corporations, has been successful on the German petrol station market for over 30 years. Together with its subsidiary HPV Hanseatic Petrol Vertriebs GmbH the owner-managed petroleum company operates more than 140 filling stations nationwide. In addition to conventional fuels such as Super, Super E10, Diesel, Super plus and now Diesel protect25, which features at least 25% savings on CO² compared to conventional diesel, the company's most important alternatives are also on offer: LPG and natural gas.

The modern shop and bistro concept of the two traditional brands provides customers with fresh, top-quality baked goods and snacks as well as tobacco products, newspapers and magazines, hot and cold beverages, confectionery, food and drugstore items as well as car care and accessories.