Royal Mail is to boost its UK electric vehicle (EV) fleet ten-fold as part of its plans to slash emissions.
An additional 3,000 vehicles are to be rolled out, with EV charging points to be installed at all the Delivery Offices set to receive the vehicles.
It follows the launch in May of Royal Mail’s first ever Delivery Office to feature an all-electric fleet of collection and delivery vehicles. Six electric charging posts and 12 charging points were installed to support the electrification of the 23 diesel delivery and collection vans at The Bristol East Central Delivery Office.
Now, other Delivery Offices across the UK are being considered for similar fleet makeovers in the coming months, with a particular focus on those in places with existing Clean Air Zones, or plans to introduce them.
In early 2020, Royal Mail signed a three-year deal with EDF for the provision of EV chargers to support its fleet electrification. The following month, the French energy firm acquired EV charging company Pod Point, having already acquired battery storage and EV charging company Pivot Power.
Royal Mail, meanwhile, has been involved in several trials and fleet electrification projects, including the Optimise Prime project exploring how to mitigate the impact of commercial EV electrification on networks. It was also part of London Electric Vehicle Company’s real-world testing and trial phase for its VN5 alongside DPD and Octopus Energy.
In November 2020, it joined Centrica, DPD and BT and Openreach to call for a 2030 ban on sales of new internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles as part of the UK Electric Fleets Coalition campaign to achieve the earlier date. The government later announced its plans to bring forward the ban to 2030 from the original date of 2040, with this following consultation with car manufacturers and sellers.
Simon Thompson, CEO of Royal Mail said: “Due to our feet on the street delivery model, we are the clear leader in low emissions per parcel in the UK. Electrification of our vehicle fleet will strengthen our advantage.”
Royal Mail’s feet on the street network includes over 85,000 postmen and women, with the company claiming to already have the lowest reported CO2e emissions per parcel amongst major UK delivery companies.
