Postal service the Royal Mail has reached a new milestone after deploying its 4000th electric delivery van from its Blackpool office.
The Blackpool site will increase its number of electric vehicles to 90 over the coming months, with all delivery and collection functions operated by an EVs.
The Royal Mail has expanded its fleet of electric vans to help lower its carbon footprint, with the aim of becoming net zero by 2024.
The organisation hopes to reduce its average carbon emissions per parcel delivery in the UK from 205gCO2e to 50gCO2e.
Last summer the Royal Mail announced it would grow its fleet of e-delivery vans, with Peugeot supplying 2000 new e-Expert and e-Partner vehicles. By the end of Spring, the delivery giant hopes to have 5000 electric vans within its fleet.
At present, more than 100 delivery offices across the UK have made the transition to either full or part electric deliveries and collections.
So far, six delivery offices have an all-electric fleet, with Norwich expected to become the seventh later this month.
“The new vans will become a familiar sight on the streets of Blackpool and our posties are really excited about doing their bit to reduce air and noise pollution in the town,” said Neil Barritt, Blackpool customer office manager.
“As a company, we pride ourselves with having the lowest reported CO2e emissions per parcel amongst major UK delivery companies and showcasing the way to achieving a more sustainable future for our fleet & our planet.”
Royal Mail added that electric vans have lower maintenance requirements, promising more on-road time and higher levels of reliability.
The vans can travel up to 130-miles between charges, depending on vehicle type, weather and load size. Electric vans also have up to 38% more load space than a petrol or diesel van, giving them additional capacity to deal with growing parcel volumes.