Tesco and FSEW put 37-tonne DAF EVs into operation
In the UK, the grocery store chain Tesco is launching fully electric heavy freight articulated trucks. In partnership with FSEW freight company, two new 37 tonne DAF electric vehicles will go into service.
The new trucks will be transporting food and other products from the Wentloog rail terminal just outside Cardiff in Wales. These will travel to Tesco’s distribution centre in Magor, also in Wales.
To charge the heavy-duty electric trucks from the Dutch company DAF, the haulage company FSEW has installed charging points at its site in South Wales. These should provide enough energy to power these large vehicles for 100 miles (160 kilometres) before needing to charge again. At around 30 miles (around 38 kilometres) each way Tesco says that this relatively short Wentloog – Magor journey is an ideal stretch to understand the potential and range of these lorries for use throughout the UK and elsewhere in Tesco’s fleet.
Jason Tarry, Tesco UK and ROI CEO said: “Tesco’s distribution network is one of the largest in the UK and plays an important role in our efforts to become net zero in our own operations by 2035. We’ve already made progress by starting our switch to electric home delivery vans and rolling out electric vehicles charging points for our customers.”
The two companies say that by demonstrating that electric HGV transportation is commercially viable, their efforts should contribute to wider investment in technology and innovation. This should support the haulage sector’s efforts to reduce emissions and air pollution which are disproportionately high: although HGVs only made up only 5% of vehicle miles in the UK, they made a much larger contribution to emissions (16%).
This first use of fully-electric heavy-duty trucks should also contribute to Tesco’s efforts to achieve net-zero emissions in its own operations by 2035. At the same time, the international haulage company FSEW is working to replace more than 40 diesel vehicles with low-carbon alternatives and switch to fleet-wide zero-emissions transport operations already by 2025.
In July last year, Tesco was one of seven British companies to pledge to electrify their fleets by 2030. In October last year, EO charging announced it will be supplying UK grocery store chain Tesco with more than 200 AC fast chargers and 5 DC rapid chargers for its home delivery fleet of electric vans. Tesco has notably also made considerable effort to ensure that its stores have charging points for their customers that use electric cars.
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