Why DPD Ireland embraces sustainable delivery with Smappee’s Smart Charging Solution

The numbers speak for themselves when it comes to DPD Ireland’s commitment to transitioning to EVs for all their drivers. Within two years, they have electrified 30% of their fleet and have 300 electric vehicles on the road. Currently they are delivering more than 1,000,000 parcels per month using EV’s. This equals a savings of 3,500 Tonnes of CO₂ per year. 

It is therefore understandable that DPD’s charging infrastructure needs the ability to handle these ambitious goals and can grow with the planned expansion of their EV fleet of delivery vehicles.  

Stephen Tummon, DPD Ireland’s Sustainability Program Manager, elaborates:  

“If there is no energy in a van it is of no use. We need complete faith in our charging system to ensure our vehicles can leave the depot every morning. 30% of our fleet are now reliant on Smappee chargers, which means 30% of our parcels require fully functional Smappee chargers 6 days a week, to meet our customer’s needs”. 

“We have 36 depots in Ireland that require 100% reliability. Our vehicles are driving long-range routes 6 days a week, 52 weeks a year. This coupled with Ireland’s changeable weather means we need a robust charger that can withstand the work and weather conditions. We have had great success with the reliable charging infrastructure of Smappee and we plan to continue installing even more Smappee chargers as we push our sustainability agenda forward”.

Taking control with one management system 

DPD partnered with EV Charging Ireland to install the Smappee EV Base and EV Wall chargers, a project that kicked off in January 2022.  

Gerhard Houston, Managing Director of EV Charging Ireland, adds that DPD Ireland is now equally impressed with Smappee’s interactive management platform as it is with the reliability of the chargers. The management platform allows DPD Ireland to seamlessly monitor all 200-plus chargers remotely, in one handy dashboard. 

Smappee’s platform also makes it easy for the courier company to do energy monitoring, payment solutions, staff reimbursement for home charging, and much more. Conveniently, in one place. 

“The key advantage is that Smappee’s smart energy-management system reliably helps to keep DPD’s delivery vans on the road,” Gerhard says. “For us, as the installer, it is a great benefit to be able to help monitor and service the chargers on an ongoing basis and do bigger biannual updates and servicing, remotely via Smappee’s over-the-air systems.” 

Because EV Charging Ireland is a Certified Smappee installer, they get first-line support from Smappee’s support team. Through the Smappee dashboard they can provide over-the-air checks and services on the full network of chargers installed at DPD Ireland, should the need arise. And on the off chance that it should become necessary, they are based in Dublin and can provide on-the-ground support, but according to Gerhard, that rarely happens. 

Reliably saving drivers and depots money 

DPD has a mix of subcontractors and employed drivers. For all drivers a reliably charged electric van can help optimize their income. All DPD Ireland drivers are issued with RFID cards, which allow them to charge at home and be reimbursed accurately at the end of each month.  

Because smart meters are still being rolled out across Ireland, the company can’t yet use split billing, but drivers can produce an accurate Excel spreadsheet each month to substantiate a claim from the company. 

Fail-safe chargers keep delivery vehicles on the road. 

“Ultimately, the most important thing for our business is that the vans are charged when the drivers arrive at the depot in the morning,” – Stephen 

“With Smappee, you get a notification if something is wrong. That’s saved us quite a few times, as the depot was notified and could send someone to reset the affected charger. Having this fail-safe in place gives us the confidence that no matter what, the vans will be charged by 7 am, or whatever time they have to leave.” 

As DPD Ireland’s Sustainability Program Manager, the cost of such an incident extends well beyond euros. Stephen mentions,  

“The reputational damage to EVs is huge if a van hasn’t charged and isn’t ready in the morning. To get a driver to convert to an EV you must remove their fears about cost, reliability, range and charging. If you fail on any of these, they won’t change their vehicle to an EV. Smappee has allowed us to remove the charging obstacle from our network. Due to the high performance of the 250 installed chargers, our drivers have faith their vehicles will be charged” 

“Using electric vehicles for deliveries is a key selling point in our business. Being able to offer customers electric delivery at no extra cost is extremely attractive. DPD Ireland has a commitment to reduce 90% of its total emissions by 2030, and our big push towards this is changing to electric vans.” 

What next?

“We recently installed solar panels at our hub to prove that the chargers work well with solar. Solar optimization will have a positive impact on our energy use as well as cost”  

We are also investigating installing fast chargers in depots which will allow drivers to take the EV’s home and charge them in 30 minutes while they load their vans in the morning.” 

Customer DPD Ireland
Country Ireland
Industry Courier company / Parcel deliveries

Profile

With 36 depots across Ireland and more than 120 000 deliveries daily, DPD Ireland is Ireland’s largest courier company and part of Geopost, Europe’s biggest parcel delivery network. Like its parent company, DPD Ireland is making great strides toward becoming a carbon-neutral courier company. 

One of the focus areas of their sustainability program is the switch from diesel vehicles to electric vans. Their target is to electrify 50% of their fleet by 2025, which equates to 500 electric vans. 

The challenge

Changing over to electric delivery vehicles requires promoting the benefits of making this switch to the drivers. The assurance that their vans will be charged when they arrive at the depot in the morning is important to get their buy-in. If one van hasn’t charged, it damages electric vehicles’ reputation and could make drivers change their minds. 

As a result, according to Stephen Tummon, the company’s Sustainability Program Manager, “We had a very clear spec and we wanted as much control as possible over seeing where the chargers were being used.” 

The solution

DPD Ireland appointed EV Charging Ireland to install Smappee EV Base and EV Wall chargers in January 2022. Fifteen months later, they have already installed 200 Smappee chargers; four of which are at head office. In addition, there are 20 home charging units. 

DPD uses the Smappee dashboard on their phone to monitor all these chargers. The app also notifies them if a charging session is faulty. He says,  

“The app allows for all depots to monitor their chargers individually and have complete oversight on their spending” 

The results

• Electric delivery vans are always reliably charged and, on the road 
• Quick response to charging sessions if not started correctly  
• Saving drivers and depots money 
• Easily keeping track of reimbursements for home charging sessions