Woolworths, the popular South African retailer, is looking to bring electric vehicles (EVs) to its large fleet of delivery vehicles. Woolworths has teamed up with Everlectric and DSV to help it make this transition smoother and easier. 70% of Woolworths’ entire delivery fleet will be upgraded to electric panel vans. Customers in Gauteng, Durban, or Cape Town will be the first to see the new fleet in action.
Woolworths has been trialing these new EV’s over the past ten months, checking if it is a viable option. Woolworths has opted to go through with the plan – meaning the trial was a success. And it’s easy to see why. Per year, Woolworths is looking at a saving of 700,000kg of tailpipe carbon emissions.
And then there’s how much money the company will save in the long haul. With petrol prices being as insane as they are, this will end up saving the retailer millions.
Decarbonising the economy
Last year, Woolworths set itself a few sustainability goals. One of those goals was to have zero carbon emissions from the company by 2040. It seems like the company is taking this goal quite seriously.
Liz Hillock, head of online and mobile at Woolworths, said, “Over the last three years, we have invested over R1 billion in our digital capabilities, providing new and innovative experiences to meet the evolving needs of our customers as well as differentiate our services which have resulted in exponential growth of online sales.”
“This latest investment in electric panel vans enables us to continue to grow our online business and deliver the Woolies difference, but with a lower carbon footprint.”
Power to the EVs
South Africa is known for many things; crime, corruption, and amazing sunsets. But we’re certainly not known for our EV infrastructure. This will only make it harder for Woolworths, but it’ll all be worth it in the long term.
The electricity to power the vans will be sourced as far as possible from renewable energy sources. The company is also planning to extend SA’s charging infrastructure a little further. Additional chargers will be placed at specific Woolworths locations.
“We will work closely with DSV and Everlectric to plan, position, and negotiate the installation of these charging stations to leverage off existing renewable/ solar installations co-located at the selected malls/ retail locations. Should there be any exception to renewables recharging, DSV and Everlectric will work with an audit firm to procure Renewable Energy Certificates (RECs) to offset any indirect grid energy emissions,” said Hillock.
No official dates were mentioned for when we can expect to see these EVs in action but it should be soon. There doesn’t seem to be much point in doing all these tests if they’re not going to roll it all out soon.
Source: BusinessTech