// Royal Mail launches its first delivery office in Scotland to feature an all-electric fleet of collection & delivery vehicles
// The Glasgow delivery office was selected because of the city’s plans for a Low Emissions Zone
Royal Mail has announced that a Glasgow delivery office has become the first in Scotland to feature an all-electric fleet of collection and delivery vehicles.
The news comes as the city gears up to hosting the 26th United Nations COP26 climate summit.
The G51 Delivery Office in the Govan area of the city has had its 13 diesel delivery and collection vans replaced by fully electric equivalents.
Alongside this, two micro electric vehicles will be joining the fleet as the company works to further reduce emissions from its operations.
Royal Mail has worked with BP Pulse in Glasgow to complete the required infrastructure works for the move and to install eight 7kW electric charging points.
The energy to power the vehicles is from 100 per cent renewable hydroelectric, solar and wind sources.
The Glasgow delivery office was selected because of the city’s plans for a Low Emissions Zone while other delivery offices across the UK are being considered for similar fleet makeovers in the coming months.
Royal Mail chief executive Simon Thompson said: “It’s fantastic news that we are able to transform the Glasgow G51 delivery office into the first Royal Mail ‘all-electric’ Delivery Office in Scotland. We always want to do the right thing by the communities we serve in terms of keeping our emissions as low as we can, and this is another important step in that direction. This is all in addition to our amazing posties delivering the mail by walking the streets of course.”
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “With the eyes of the world turning to Glasgow ahead of COP26, it’s vital that we lead by example when it comes to tackling the climate emergency. That is why it is such welcome news that Royal Mail are launching their first all-electric delivery office in Scotland just across the Clyde from where the summit will take place. “
The fully electric vans have up to 38 per cent larger load space than the vehicles they have replaced, giving them additional capacity to deal with growing parcel volumes. With lower maintenance requirements, the electric fleet also promises more on-road time and higher levels of reliability.
The 13 new vans can travel up to 90 miles on a single charge, depending on weather conditions and load size. As part of Royal Mail’s recent expansion of telemetry technology across its fleet, the vans will also have telemetry capabilities installed, aimed at encouraging more efficient driving techniques.
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