One of the major contributors to CO2 emissions is delivery vehicles of all types — whether it’s an 18-wheeler or a Mr D scooter zipping about the city. Now, food and clothing retailer Woolworths has announced that it’s electrifying its fleet by acquiring solar-powered vans for deliveries.
According to a tweet, the retailer has managed to offset almost 3,600kg of carbon dioxide emissions over the last two months.
Woolworth’s deliveries, brought to you by Ra
“In line with our vision to be one of the most sustainable retailers in the world, in collaboration with DSV and Everlectric we are trialling electric panel vans into our online shopping delivery fleet, a first in the South African retail space!” Woolworths tweeted.
In the last 2 months we’ve saved nearly 3600kgs of CO2 emissions. 💚
— Woolworths SA (@WOOLWORTHS_SA) November 9, 2021
Woolies partnered with courier company DSV and Everlectric to trial the solar-powered panel vans for its online shopping delivery fleet. The latter is an EV supplier that focuses on helping OEMs opt for greener transport options in South Africa. It basically supplies electric-powered vehicles and the charging infrastructure.
“To power the vans, we source electricity from renewable and sustainable sources, including rooftop solar PV installations. Where an onsite generation of renewable energy is not directly available or practical, we offset 100% of the electricity emissions via renewable energy certificates,” Woolies said.
In this case the charging infrastructure is the power of the sun, we’re guessing? More details on the vehicles, their range, where the panels are located and how quickly/slowly they charge up aren’t known. Once we do know, we’ll let you know.
A few weeks ago, Estonian e-hailing service, Bolt, announced that it’s planning to electrify its South African taxis by implementing electric and hybrid vehicles.
