Royal Mail operates the largest EV fleet in the UK
Royal Mail’s procurement of new electric vans is continuing according to plan, as the postal service had announced the introduction of its 6,000th electric vehicle in January.
The 7,000th electric vehicle was presented by Lilian Greenwood, Minister for the Future of Roads, at the delivery centre, which supplies the London boroughs of Chelsea and South Kensington and the Palace of Westminster, among others. Greenwood recognised Royal Mail as a pioneer in the transition to zero-emission delivery.
“Today’s unveiling of its 7,000th EV is a crucial milestone for Royal Mail as it continues to decarbonise its fleet of iconic red vans. It comes as we’re investing £120m to help businesses follow Royal Mail’s lead and buy zero emission vans,” explained Minister Greenwood.
Since the introduction of the first 100 electric vehicles in 2017, Royal Mail has continuously invested in the expansion of its electric vehicle fleet. Around a quarter of the delivery bases are now partially electric. Almost all vehicles are charged on the company’s own premises with 100 per cent renewable electricity.
Royal Mail is also planning to procure a further 1,800 electric delivery vans and charging infrastructure in the coming year. Almost half of these vehicles are to be produced at Stellantis’ UK plant in Ellesmere Port. Stellantis had announced a major order from Royal Mail last October: At the time, there was talk of an order for a total of 2,100 e-vans, namely 1,100 units of the small E-Partner electric van and 1,000 units of the E-Expert, the mid-sized van in the portfolio of the Stellantis brand Peugeot.
Another step towards sustainable logistics is the test run of two fully electric 19-tonne trucks, which were developed in collaboration with the British manufacturer Magtec. This pilot project is being funded with £800,000 from Innovate UK and is intended to test the usability of large electric commercial vehicles under real-life conditions.
Royal Mail is pursuing ambitious climate targets with its ‘Steps to Zero’ environmental strategy: A 50% reduction in direct emissions by 2030 and net-zero by 2040. 18% of Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions have already been saved in the last four years. The company now has the lowest CO2 emissions per parcel of any UK delivery company. Alistair Cochrane, Chief Operating Officer of Royal Mail, emphasised: “Today, we’ve hit a major milestone in our journey to reach Net-Zero by 2040. We’ve strengthened our position as the UK’s largest electric delivery fleet and our investment in 1,800 more zero-emission vans will help us maintain this in the future. Royal Mail is going the extra mile to decarbonise its fleet, with huge benefits for our posties, our customers and the planet.”
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