Royal Mail is rolling out a further 3,000 electric vans for use in Clean Air Zone (CAZ) areas. The additional vehicles, predominantly Mercedes e-Vito, e-Sprinter and Peugeot e-Experts, build on the existing fleet of 300 electric vans and will be supported by a charge point installation at all participating delivery offices.
The first batch of the new vehicles is expected to enter operation in October. Vehicles will range from 3.7m3 to 6.3m3 capacity and will adopt existing delivery routes.
The fleet replacement is Royal Mail’s latest reduced-emissions pledge: in May, the company also announced the introduction of 29 Bio-CNG-fuelled 40-tonne trucks and opened its first zero-emission delivery office fleet in Bristol. At the site, in the Easton area of the city, 23 diesel vans have been replaced by electric equivalents, supported by infrastructure investment covering six charging posts and 12 charging points. 
Simon Thompson, Royal Mail CEO said, “Due to our feet on the street delivery model, we are the clear leader in low emissions per parcel in the UK. That’s good for our customers, our people and the planet. We look forward to working with vehicle manufacturers and government to increase supply so we can accelerate our transition to electric vehicles in the UK.”
