GoFor will drive out Odin’s electric vans in US and Canada

Odin Automotive, the new StreetScooter owner, has teamed up with sustainable delivery company GoFor which will deploy several thousand of its electric light commercial vehicles in the US and Canada from the second quarter of 2022 until end-2023.

The partnership follows Odin’s acquisition of the production company StreetScooter Engineering GmbH from Deutsche Post DHL in January this year. The deal includes intellectual property for the D17 and D20 vehicle models as well as the two wholly owned subsidiaries in Switzerland and Japan. Last month, Odin officially started the production of StreetScooter electric vehicles.

As part of the new agreement with GoFor, Odin will have binding first right of refusal to provide electric vehicles for GoFor's crowdsourced delivery services, starting with up to 3,266 vehicles planned by the end of 2023.

Committed to carbon-negative last mile services, GoFor will become one of the first eFleet-As-A-Service providers in North America through the collaboration with Odin. GoFor's 10,000 independent drivers and franchise fleet owners will no longer depend upon increasingly unpredictable gas or diesel prices, which currently average more than 10 times the cost of electricity.

"GoFor's strong commitment to low cost delivery and moving toward a future with zero emissions make them an ideal fit for Odin's electric solution suite," Stefan Krause, CEO and Chairman of Odin Automotive, said. "With over 100 million km of work already on the road, our EVs are known for their reliability, ergonomics and high uptime, creating a win-win for drivers and fleet operators. We also have an unmatched first mover advantage over the rest of the sector - our vehicles are fully proven, and ready to deploy at scale, today. Our advantage gives GoFor everything they need to execute on their Renewable Delivery initiative as early as Q2 this year."

Other electric delivery vehicle providers in North America are largely still at the prototype or first production phase, and only solve part of the electrification process, Odin claimed. When operated correctly, electric vehicles will inherently offer commercial owners longer maintenance free life cycles as well as lower TCO over time.

"This partnership brings together two pioneers in sustainable last mile delivery who both understand that the world can't continue down the same path, rushing to deliver ever faster, no matter the consequence to communities or the environment.'' GoFor CEO Ian Gardner, said. "At GoFor, our success will not only be measured in deliveries and profit but also in the stewardship of our communities, with a responsibility to ensure their prosperity and sustained health. This union is key to living up to our Renewable Delivery commitment to deliver better through carbon-negative solutions and fast, reliable, low cost delivery."

Odin's electric light commercial vehicles have been in scale production in Germany for over seven years. Deutsche Post DHL, which bought Aachen-based StreetScooter Engineering GmbH back in 2014, has more than 20,000 StreetScooter vans in operation in Germany.