Royal Mail has announced the launch of its first delivery office in Scotland to feature an all-electric fleet of collection and delivery vehicles.
The G51 delivery office in the Govan area of Glasgow has had its 13 diesel delivery and collection vans replaced by fully-electric equivalents – comprising the facility’s entire collection and delivery fleet.
Two micro EVs will also join the fleet as Royal Mail steps up its drive to further reduce emissions associated with its operations.
Roughly the size of a golf buggy or a quad bike, with a load size of between 1.2m3 and 2.0m3, the micro EVs have the capacity to accommodate more than an average daily round’s worth of letters and small parcels.
Royal Mail has worked with BP Pulse to complete infrastructure works and install eight 7kW electric charging points powered by energy from totally renewable hydroelectric, solar and wind sources.
The Glasgow delivery office was selected because of the city’s plans for a low-emission zone (LEZ), which will require vehicles to meet certain emissions standards to enter its centre.
At present, Royal Mail’s other UK delivery offices are being considered for similar fleet makeovers in the coming months – particularly those in places with existing clean air zones or LEZs, or with plans to introduce them.
The Glasgow facility is the second Royal Mail delivery office to go all-electric in the UK following conversion of the company’s Bristol east central delivery office in the city’s Easton area in May 2021.
Simon Thompson, CEO of Royal Mail, said: “It’s fantastic news that we are able to transform the Glasgow G51 delivery office into the first Royal Mail all-electric delivery office in Scotland.
“We always want to do the right thing by the communities we serve in terms of keeping our emissions as low as we can, and this is another important step in that direction.”
Read more: Emission-cutting tyre trial for Royal Mail electric vans
The battery-electric vans have up to 38% larger load space than the vehicles they have replaced, giving them additional capacity to deal with growing parcel volumes.
And with lower maintenance requirements, the electric fleet should ensure more on-road time and higher levels of reliability, according to Royal Mail.
Furthermore, the 13 new vans can travel up to 90 miles on a single charge, depending on weather conditions and load size.
The vans will also have telemetry capabilities installed, aimed at encouraging more efficient driving techniques.
