British engineering firm Penso is looking to transform home deliveries made with ultra-lightweight commercial vehicles.
The Coventry-based firm has launched a range of ultra-lightweight bodies for 3.5-metric ton commercial vehicles to tackle issues facing last-mile logistics fleets including reducing their carbon footprint, driver shortages, tighter legislation, alternative fuels and increasing customer demand.
The Blue Ocean Home Delivery Pods offer temperature-controlled and dry freight fleets using 3.5-ton vehicles the ability to carry the same weight of goods in two journeys that a traditional vehicle delivers in three.
Penso says that an aerodynamic design, improved functionality, the use of carbon fiber and recycled plastic, compatibility with diesel, electric and hybrid chassis, plus a 10-year structural warranty offer huge efficiency savings.
Production will start with two models, an e-Grocery Pod for supermarket deliveries and an e-Delivery Pod based on a Luton van.
Penso will offer 30 different pods built across different wheelbases and vehicle platforms.
Daniel Hurcombe, managing director of Penso, said, “We’ve started volume production this month, following extensive prototype testing, and we already have an order book with household-name fleets for several hundred vehicles to be built this year. Our new facility is designed to build up to 10,000 pods per annum, and the plan is to ramp up production steadily over the next five years.”
