Local e-retailer Faithful to Nature recently introduced two locally-made three-wheeled electric delivery vehicles to its fleet. The two tuk-tuk-looking trikes will form part of the e-retailer’s express delivery fleet in Cape Town and, true to the company’s name, emit no carbon emissions.
The MellowVans, as they are known, are manufactured by a South African company of the same name and are entirely electric. The company’s website doesn’t specify an exact range of their vehicles. But you aren’t going to be taking long road trips in these things. As a last-mile delivery solution, they make sense. Especially if the quoted 15 cents per kilometre running cost is accurate.
Pretty mellow on the emissions
Paul Cook, Faithful to Nature CEO said, “We’ve always been conscious of our deliveries’ carbon footprint, so when the opportunity arose to use electric vehicles, we were ready for it. We are excited to be using electric vehicles made in South Africa, as supporting local and sustainable organisations has always been at the forefront of what we do.”
“Not only will this reduce our carbon footprint, but it also means our customers will benefit from lower express delivery costs, which will decrease dramatically. Orders over R400 will cost only R40, and orders under R400 only R20. It’s better for our planet and our customers,” he continued.
Read More: Woolworths electrifies its delivery fleet with solar-powered vans
Faithful to Nature is testing the MellowVans out in Cape Town first. If things go well it said it would bring them to Gauteng next.
This isn’t the first retailer to introduce a more environmentally friendly solution to its delivery fleet. Woolworths is doing something similar. Woolies’ DSV panel vans look slightly more robust than the three-wheeler MellowVans, however. They probably cost more to run though. Either way, we’re sure the planet is thankful. Maybe it won’t punish us as severely as it is in some other countries right now.
Source: BusinessTech