The PM had a demonstration of DPD UK's electric vehicle (EV) fleet including the unique, British manufactured P1 e-cargo bike.

The P1 is the result of a partnership between DPD UK and Oxford-based manufacturer EAV. The bio-mechanical hybrid electric-assisted pedal bikes have a range of 60 miles and with a 120kg payload can cover 100 parcel stops in a day and then be recharged using a normal 13amp, 240v plug socket.

The P1 is part of DPD UK's aim is to be the most responsible city centre delivery company and the leader in electric vehicles in the UK. In October last year, DPD opened the UK's first all-electric parcel depot in Westminster and plans to have a fleet of 500 electric vehicles by the end of 2020.

On a day of campaigning in the North West ahead of the 2019 general election the PM used the visit to launch his party's campaign bus. He was then given a tour of DPD UK's brand new, purpose-built distribution centre in Middleton and talked to members of the DPD UK team.

Dwain McDonald, DPD UK's CEO, commented;

We were very happy to welcome the Prime Minister today and show him around one of our flagship distribution centres here in Middleton. DPD UK has invested over £500m in the last 7 years, building 35 purpose-built distribution centres and parcel hubs across the UK to deliver the nation's parcels and create over 5,000 new jobs.

We are leading the drive to a greener, more sustainable future and it was good to be able to demonstrate our EV capability with the PM. But we cannot do this alone. We need stakeholders from across a range of industries and bodies to work together in a holistic way to create an infrastructure that makes large scale EV deployment feasible.