Following a week dominated by electric car headlines, the Royal Mail has announced plans to purchase 100 electric Peugeot Partner vans to be used as delivery vehicles across the UK.

The electric vans will be spread across the Royal Mail’s delivery offices, with charging stations installed at the sites ready to provide an overnight charge ahead of daily post deliveries.

“With electric vehicles firmly on the agenda this week, there couldn’t be a better time to announce this landmark deal with the Royal Mail,” said PSA’s group fleet director Martin Gurney.

“The order was won after Royal Mail carried out trials with the Partner Electric. It’s a tribute to their performance in the trials that Peugeot electric vans will soon be helping Royal Mail to significantly reduce the environmental impact of its delivery fleet.”

The Peugeot Partner L2 Electric carries a payload of 552kg and boasts an official range of 106 miles from its 22.5kWh lithium-ion batteries. It can be charged to 80 percent capacity in 30 minutes using a rapid charge point should Postman Pat run out of juice, while regenerative braking also tops up the batteries and reduces brake wear.

As well as saving fuel costs, the electric Partner could save Royal Mail nearly £3,000 a year in congestion charges for postal rounds in central London, while some London boroughs offer free parking for electric vehicles.

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Royal Mail fleet director, Paul Gatti, said: “Our research has shown that electric vans are a good operational fit with our business and we are delighted to be ordering such a large volume to use in our daily operations. This is good news for our customers and the towns and cities which we serve. It also means we are on the front foot for future changes in emissions legislation.

“Emissions are an important issue for us at Royal Mail and we are continuously looking at new and innovative ways to reduce our carbon footprint and our impact on air quality. Improving the efficiency of our fleet by introducing electric vans is just one example of this.”

Source: Peugeot