DB DHL Sells off Rights to its All Electric Street Scooter Division

GERMANY – LUXEMBOURG – Deutsche Post DHL, which operates 17,000 of the last mile delivery vehicles, is selling the rights and know-how for the production of its StreetScooter electric vehicles to the international consortium ODIN Automotive S.à.r.l. (Luxembourg).

StreetScooter has been ongoing since 2010, initially part of a private research project to design and produce a family of electric vehicles to include delivery vans, e-bikes and e-trikes. DP DHL acquired it in 2014 and by 2018. and depending on the model, StreetScooters could achieve a range of up to 200 kilometres with a 900 kilogramme payload and hit a maximum speed of 120 km/h.

Ford got involved in 2017 building prototype StreetScooter WORK XL models based on a Transit chassis and special insurance deals for German users were introduced by Allianz and in 2019 the range of electric light commercial vehicles (eLCVs) was introduced into the Chinese market.

The sale announced includes the intellectual property for the D17 and D20 vehicle models as well as the two wholly owned subsidiaries in Switzerland and Japan. In addition, Deutsche Post DHL Group will become a minority shareholder in ODIN taking a reported 10% stake. StreetScooter currently operates manufacturing in Germany, with a production capacity of up to 30,000 vehicles per year.

With the sale of StreetScooter Engineering GmbH, ODIN Automotive S.à.r.l. will become the official manufacturer of StreetScooter electric vehicles and continue to produce both StreetScooter models (offering 8m³ and 13m³ of cargo space, respectively).

StreetScooter GmbH, including its existing 300 employees, will continue to act as a supplier of vehicle parts and batteries for the Group's planned fleet expansion to 21,500 StreetScooters. Thereafter, StreetScooter GmbH will focus exclusively on servicing and maintaining the existing DP DHL fleet, the largest of its type in Europe.

ODIN Automotive S.à.r.l., a financial holding company, is backed by several institutional and private global investment partners, including Sparta Capital Management in the United Kingdom, a major Chinese OEM, and a partner for contract manufacturing in North America. Concurrently to the acquisition, the group has also secured an additional minimum order of 3,500 vehicles from DP DHL to continue electrifying their postal delivery fleet.

ODIN CEO and Chairman Stefan Krause, who is the original CEO and founder of EV company Canoo and previously held roles as CFO/Board Member of automaker BMW and CFO of Deutsche Bank, commented on the closing of the deal with DP DHL saying:

"The acquisition of StreetScooter from Deutsche Post marks a huge milestone for us, besides acquiring a proven and established OEM in the EV space, we are gaining over a decade of experience in electric fleet management that is unparalleled in the industry. This acquisition provides us with a huge head start over the rest of the sector on our mission to deliver a proven, holistic electrification solution for fleets."