Motus Commercials’ Stoke on Trent DAF dealership is trialling a new Maxus e Deliver 3 for parts deliveries.

Covering Staffordshire and Cheshire, the existing trio of Stoke dealership parts vans deliver both DAF and TRP All-Makes parts to customers for their own workshop stock, and the repair and maintenance of trucks, trailers, and vans.

Serving around 250 customers, and covering 1,500 miles on a weekly basis, the delivery network for this busy DAF Dealership is complex, but the Stoke team sees a need to introduce electric vehicles into their parts van delivery fleet.

Craig Lees, Head of Parts for the North West Region, explains, “We decided to try out an electric van due to the ever-increasing fuel costs of operating our current fleet of vehicles, as well as the environmental benefits. This trial enables us to assess the logistics of using an electric vehicle whilst continuing to serve the needs of our customers.”

The Maxus e Deliver 3 is a small light commercial vehicle with a 945KG payload, a range of up to 213 miles, and can charge 80% in just 45 minutes with DC charging.

Having used the electric van for a couple of weeks, Craig summarises its suitability for the parts delivery fleet at the Stoke DAF dealership:

“Initial impressions are promising, it is a good van as a whole and is working well in the city and surrounding area, but a downfall is the mileage range. Finding charging points is a real challenge on route for our drivers when out in the Maxus e Deliver 3, and this really restricts how far it can go.

“Whilst for these reasons it isn’t feasible to completely replace our diesel fleet, an electric van certainly does suit our more local routes and we wouldn’t completely rule out a 100% electric parts delivery fleet for the future, should the range or charging infrastructure see improvements.”