Yamato Holdings has ordered 500 electric light utility vehicles from StreetScooter, a subsidiary of Deutsche Post DHL Group, to offer a more environmentally friendly service.

Yamato has ordered 500 Work Pure. This model is StreetScooter at its most basic since the variant has no truck body. Truck bodies will be assembled and installed on Work Pure chassis by the Japanese company Toprec, and will also be suitable for cold-chain applications. Maintenance and repair will be performed by the Yamato Transport’s group company, Yamato Autoworks, which is responsible for the group’s delivery fleet and also functions as a fleet services provider for third parties.

As part of the close development partnership between the two companies, the electric vehicles have been modified to meet both Japanese standards and the specific needs of Yamato. That means these “Made in Germany” e-transporters will be sporting a steering wheel on the right. Delivery is scheduled for operation during fiscal year 2019.

Yutaka Nagao, Representative Director, President and Executive Officer of Yamato Transport: “While restructuring a sustainable last mile delivery network for TA-Q-BIN, it has been a big challenge for us to develop new delivery vehicles with the consideration of our employee’s point of view. This encounter with StreetScooter is truly exciting to us, and we’re looking forward to our first step towards a resolution through joint development.”

The order is good news to Achim Kampker, the CEO of StreetScooter. “We’re truly thrilled that Yamato has chosen our electric vehicles,” Kampker said. “It’s fresh validation that our vision of building customised, industry-specific vehicles is blossoming, this time on an international scale. The strategic cooperation with Yamato is thus an important step on the road to tapping the Japanese market for electric light utility vehicles.”