As a part of its eco logistics plan to reduce their carbon footprint, Sainsbury’s have purchased 50 Smith Electric 3.5 tonne vans to operate from stores in London.
This decision follows the two year trial of 20 electric vehicles using either zebra or lithium-ion battery technology. In terms of long term cost, such electric vehicles will have lower cost than equivalent vans running on diesel.
Simon Bond, Sainsbury’s delivery operation managers said: “Once you calculate the factors such as the congestion charge, lower fuel costs and maintenance costs the higher purchase cost is absorbed.”
All these new eco friendly transport vans have a restricted speed of 40 mph and the drivers must be trained carefully before operating these vehicles as they are quite different from regular vans.
After the initial introductions of these vehicles, Sainsbury’s is expecting to roll out more electric vehicles in other major UK cities in the near future.
Upon reading this news, we were wondering whether there are many courier companies who also are using electric vehicles in their fleet on Shiply. If you do, please share your story and experiences below, we believe everybody is interested to know.