with a fleet of about 49,000 vehicles on the road, the royal mail operates a massive network of delivery trucks daily. in a huge step towards a more sustainable future for its vans, the UK mail service is set to trial nine fully electric commercial vehicles in partnership with arrival, an automotive technology company based in oxfordshire. importantly, the trucks are constructed with ultra-lightweight composite materials that significantly reduce their weight.

royal mail electric truck
the co-branded vehicles are the first to be produced at arrival’s new factory in banbury

 

 

the lightweight nature of the vehicles, combined with arrival’s custom built power electronics and motors, reduces the cost of operation by more than 50%. inner city deliveries are optimized through the use of a battery that gives the maximum range to weight ratio, enabling the vans to produce zero emissions for up to 100 miles. ‘cities like london will benefit hugely from a switch to electric, in terms of both pollution and noise,’ denis sverdlov, CEO of arrival said. ‘most importantly we are priced the same as diesel trucks removing the main barrier to go electric.’

royal mail electric truck
the trucks are constructed with ultra-lightweight composite materials that significantly reduce their weight

 

 

beginning today — on august 23rd, 2017 — royal mail is trialling its of 3.5, 6 and 7.5 tonne trucks from their mount pleasant depot in central london. the vehicles will be used to transport packages between mail and distribution centers in the city and surrounding area. ‘we will be putting them through their paces over the next several months to see how they cope with the mail collection demands from our larger sites,’ said paul gatti, royal mail fleet’s managing director. ‘we have trialled electric trucks before but not of this type of innovative design and look forward to see what additional benefits they can bring to our existing fleet of around 49,000 vehicles.’

royal mail electric truck
one version of a royal mail electric truck ready for delivery today 

royal mail electric truck
the UK mail service is set to trial nine fully electric commercial vehicles this month 

royal mail electric truck
the cost of operation is reduced by more than 50%

royal mail electric truck
royal mail is trialling its of 3.5, 6 and 7.5 tonne trucks from their mount pleasant depot