End the use of fossil fules in its fleet of delivery trucks over the next 10 years.
That is the goal of retailer Waitrose and John Lewis, which are planning to boost the use of electric vans to become more economically responsible over the next decade.
Those vans will get a test run early next year trialling Waitrose.com and John Lewis deliveries, according to their recent Ethics & Sustainability Progress Report.
Waitrose says it has been working with manufacturers and data scientists to source vehicles that are the most efficient. The initiative hopes to spare the environment of nearly 20,000 tonnes of CO2 emissions, or the carbon footprint of 2,500 households per year.
“As our online services rapidly expand, we’re working hard to meet our goal of operating a zero fossil fuel fleet in the next 10 years,” Justin Laney, Partner & General Manager of Central Transport at the John Lewis Partnership, says. “Our new electric vans are an ideal solution for home deliveries; the innovative design means they’re more efficient, but also respectful to the environment and the growing number of neighbourhoods in which we deliver.”
The vehicles have four big advantages over traditional trucks:
- They produce fewer pollutants;
- Their capacity is great than diesels;
- They are quieter, which helps mitigate noise in neighbourhoods;
- They can be upgraded.
Waitrose recently announced it is building a dedicated biomethane gas filling station to enable its largest heavy goods vehicles to use a low-carbon alternative to diesel. This will reduce CO2 emissions by 80%. The move to more efficient, more environmentally friendly vehicles gives another boost to Waitrose.com, which has trebled its deliveries this year.
