A total of 190 new electric vans have entered service with Royal Mail, almost trebling the size of the company’s pure EV fleet.
Operating in London and across the South East, the new arrivals are a mix of Mercedes-Benz eVito and Peugeot Partner models.
Added as part of Royal Mail’s efforts to reduce its carbon emissions, the new vans are wrapped in green rather the company’s traditional red.
The investment forms part of Royal Mail’s involvement in Ofgem-funded Optimise Prime – the world’s largest commercial electric vehicle project.
Paul Gatti, Royal Mail fleet director, said, “As a Company, we are committed to making changes to our operations that reduce our environmental impact, whilst ensuring we continue to meet customer expectations.
“This trial is part of a programme of initiatives across our business that will ensure we can continue to deliver letters and parcels safely, efficiently and in the most environmentally-friendly way possible.”
Optimise Prime is led by Hitachi Vantara and UK Power Networks. The initiative aims to bring together leading power, technology, fleet and transport companies – including SSEN, Uber and Centrica – to test and implement the best approaches to the EV rollout for commercial enterprises.
Nicole Thompson, director, social innovation and co-creation partnerships at Hitachi Vantara said, “The Optimise Prime consortium is delighted to see the first tranche of new commercial electric vehicles on the road. By sharing data and collaborating with this industry-led initiative, Royal Mail is helping us pave the way for the mass adoption of electric vehicles in the UK.”