National postal operator Australia Post is launching a 12-week pilot from March 20, 2017, testing new three-wheeled electric delivery vehicles in the city of Hobart, Tasmania.
Developed by Swiss manufacturer Kyburz, the e-vehicles have three times the parcel carrying capacity of the current motorbikes, and can hold up to 100 small parcels and 1,200 letters. They also boast a battery range of up to nine hours and have a top speed of 45km/h (28mph).
The vehicles will operate across five delivery rounds within Hobart, including the suburbs of Bellerive, Howrah, Montagu Bay, Mornington, Rosny Park, Tranmere and Warrane. Australia Post is also planning to trial the e-vehicles in a further five states from April 2017, including Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia. The pilot comes off the back of Australia Post announcing a A$197m (US$149m) before-tax half-year profit, driven largely by a 5.7% volume growth in the parcels business and postal losses reduced to break-even.
Mitch Buxton, head of network optimization, Australia Post, said, “We know that residents in Hobart love online shopping. In fact the yearly growth rate in this area is above the national average, sitting at 13.8% growth compared with 11.5%. Health and beauty products, fashion and recreational goods are the most popular purchases among local Hobart residents.
“Our parcels business generates more than 70% of our total revenue. Ten years ago parcels contributed less than 25% of our revenue. As our business transforms, so too are the jobs that our workforce are doing. A few years ago we equipped our posties so they can deliver small parcels and this latest initiative will allow them to deliver even more helping to ensure their roles remain meaningful well into the future.
“While letter volumes have nearly halved, this is another example of how Australia Post is looking at ways to keep our posties delivering for Australians.”
March 13, 2017