Toll and Asahi roll out electric heavy trucks in Perth
The vehicles will operate from Asahi’s Forrestfield Distribution Centre. The five Volvo FE Electric rigids are set to complete more than 36,000 deliveries per year, transporting kegs and packaged beer, liquor and non-alcoholic beverages to bottle shops and licensed venues across the metropolitan area in Perth. According to the companies, this represents the largest route-to-market fleet of heavy electric vehicles in a single location in Australia.
The deployment forms part of Toll’s AUD 67 million investment in battery-electric heavy vehicles and charging infrastructure. The programme is co-funded by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency through its ‘Driving the Nation’ initiative.
Each truck features a 12-pallet tautliner body and branded livery. The companies state that the vehicles are capable of operating up to 270 kilometres on a single charge. The partners expect the electric trucks to replace diesel-powered vehicles and to abate up to 140 tonnes of CO₂ emissions per year.
Toll and Asahi have also installed three dedicated dual-port 60 kW DC charging stations at the Forrestfield site to support fleet operations.
“This milestone builds on our longstanding partnership with Asahi and represents the next step in our shared decarbonisation journey,” said Nick Vrckovski, President Retail and Consumer at Toll Group. “By deploying electric trucks across Perth’s high-volume metro network, we’re showing how lower-emissions transport can be achieved at scale, without compromising service reliability, safety or customer needs.”
Amanda Sellers, Chief Executive Officer of Asahi Beverages, added: “Using electric trucks to transport our beer in Perth marks a significant milestone in Asahi’s efforts to reduce emissions. […]. This investment makes commercial sense for our business and is a big step towards creating sustainable and reliable supply chains with our customers and partners.”
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