Royal Mail has deployed its 7,000th electric vehicle (EV) in the United Kingdom, reinforcing its position as the operator of the country’s largest electric delivery fleet. The milestone vehicle was put into service at the South Lambeth delivery centre, which currently operates around 70 electric vans.
The new EV will serve multiple London boroughs, including Chelsea, South Kensington, and Westminster. Lilian Greenwood, the UK’s Minister for the Future of Roads, presented the vehicle and highlighted the significance of Royal Mail’s electrification efforts.
“Today’s unveiling of its 7,000th EV is a crucial milestone for Royal Mail as it continues to decarbonise its fleet of iconic red vans,” Greenwood said. “It comes as we’re investing £120 million to help businesses follow Royal Mail’s lead and buy zero emission vans.”
Since introducing its first 100 electric vans in 2017, Royal Mail has steadily increased its EV fleet, with roughly a quarter of its delivery centres now partially electric. Most vehicles are charged at company facilities powered by 100% renewable electricity.
Royal Mail plans to add approximately 1,800 additional electric vans over the next year, along with expanded charging infrastructure. Nearly half of these new vehicles will be produced at Stellantis’ Ellesmere Port plant, including Peugeot’s E-Partner and E-Expert models.
In addition, Royal Mail is piloting two fully electric 19-tonne trucks developed in collaboration with British manufacturer Magtec. The trial, backed by £800,000 in funding from Innovate UK, aims to assess the practicality of larger electric commercial vehicles under real-world conditions.
Royal Mail’s ‘Steps to Zero’ environmental strategy targets a 50% reduction in direct emissions by 2030 and achieving net-zero emissions by 2040. The company reports it has reduced Scope 1 and Scope 2 emissions by 18% over the past four years and claims to have the lowest CO2 emissions per parcel among UK delivery firms.
Alistair Cochrane, Royal Mail’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “Today, we’ve hit a major milestone in our journey to reach Net-Zero by 2040. We’ve strengthened our position as the UK’s largest electric delivery fleet and our investment in 1,800 more zero-emission vans will help us maintain this in the future.”