- The United Kingdom’s primary postal service, Royal Mail, has reached a significant milestone in its electrification journey.
- This week, the firm unveiled its 7,000th electric vehicle, a Stellantis electric van which will join a 70-large electric van fleet at South Lambeth Delivery Office in London.
- Royal Mail is showing no signs of letting off the EV adoption pedal just yet, with another 1,800 electric vans set to join its fleet over the next year.
Royal Mail reaches 7,000 EVs in its fleet
The milestone has cemented Royal Mail’s position as one of the largest operators of electric vehicles in the UK, as businesses across the country continue to adopt electric vans in increasingly large numbers. Royal Mail is working towards its own net zero emissions goal of 2040, with an even closer 2035 deadline for zero emissions during the final mile of delivery. Royal Mail only purchased its first electric vans in 2017, highlighting just how rapidly the postal service has adopted EVs, and once again proves the capabilities of electric vans in what is a heavy-demand and critical application for keeping the country’s postal service moving.
For now, the 7,000 EVs within its fleet have consisted entirely of electric vans, but it recently revealed goals to electrify the longer-distance logistics part of its operations, after adding two electric heavy goods vehicle to its fleet on a trial basis. Following this trial, Royal Mail will look at growing its electric truck fleet further.
These 7,000 EVs now in its fleet are set to be joined by a further 1,800 new electric vans over the next twelve months, with around half of those new vans being British built at the Stellantis Ellesmere Port plant near Liverpool. These new vans will also come with additional charging infrastructure to further support Royal Mail’s electrification journey.
UK Future of Roads Minister, Lilian Greenwood, commented:
“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.
This Government is providing £2.3bn to help industry and consumers make a supported switch to EVs, delivering our Plan for Change by driving investment and creating jobs to put money in the pockets of hardworking people and secure our future.”
Alistair Cochrane, Chief Operating Officer at Royal Mail, added:
“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.”
