Australia Post has announced it will become the nation’s largest electric vehicle fleet operator following an order for an additional 1,000 three-wheeled electric delivery vehicles (eDVs).
According to the post’s chief operating officer, Bob Black, the new eDVs will boost Australia Post’s existing fleet, which includes electric pushbikes, and create a range of benefits for postal delivery staff, customers and the environment.
“We are proud to soon be operating Australia’s largest fleet of electric vehicles, and hope this will set the standard across Australia,” Black said. “With parcel volumes growing – on average close to 10% each year for the last three years – and letter volumes declining, we’re always looking for ways to ensure our posties continue to play an important and sustainable role in the community.
“These vehicles offer additional carrying capacity, so our posties can deliver more parcels than ever before directly to the customer’s door – and can perform additional functions, such as collecting mail from street posting boxes.”
Along with delivery benefits, Black said the electric vehicles also offer added safety and environmental protections: “The eDVs are safer than the traditional motorcycle. They are easier to see on the road, more stable, and have increased rider protection and lower on-road speeds, all of which reduce a postie’s exposure to incidents and serious accidents.”
Black added, “We started trialling eDVs in 2017 and we’ve since deployed them in all states. We have worked closely with our posties to make improvements along the way. Our posties love the eDVs because they demonstrate our commitment to providing safer and more sustainable employment into the future, given consumers are sending fewer letters and relying more and more on their postie to deliver their parcels. They will also help us achieve our commitment of reducing our carbon emissions by 25% by 2020.”
Deployment of the additional 1,000 vehicles is expected to start from June across all states. Along with the additional 1,000 eDVs, Australia Post will also roll out an additional 4,000 electric pushbikes, bringing its total to 5,980 over the next three years.