Royal Mail, in partnership with Magtec, is trialling two new 19-tonne electric trucks in its fleet to assess their performance against its existing diesel vehicles.
The first model will be based at the organisation’s Greenford Mail Centre in northwest London and will deliver and collect mail to and from nearby delivery offices.
Flexible battery options mean that the truck will be able to cover up to 125 miles on a single charge – enough to cover the majority of urban delivery routes.
The results of the pilot will help Royal Mail and other fleet operators understand the real-world benefits and practicalities of switching to EVs.
The trial is being supported with and £800,000 grant from Innovate UK.
Anna Pearson, fleet innovation and environment manager at Royal Mail, said, “We’ve been rolling out electric vans in our ‘final mile’ fleet for a number of years, and now we want to learn more about how we can decarbonise our national distribution fleet of over 4,000 trucks.
“This trial will help strengthen our position as the UK’s largest electric delivery fleet operator, while ensuring we have the reliability we need for the challenge of delivering to every single one of the UK’s 32 million addresses.”
Marcus Jenkins, chief technology officer at Magtec, said, “This collaboration represents a significant milestone in advancing EV technology for medium-duty trucks.
“By addressing the challenges of power inefficiencies and range anxiety, we aim to provide fleet operators with a reliable, cost-effective solution that supports their decarbonisation goals while maintaining operational reliability.”
