The Swiss Post and the Austrian Post have both committed to converting their significant delivery fleets to 100% electricity by 2030 in a move that puts more pressure on automakers to step up to the challenge of building functional, affordable electric vehicles for fleet operators as well as normal customers.
The commitment to cleaning up their fleets was formalized when the two groups joined the EV100, an initiative aimed at encouraging and supporting fleets as they work to convert their fleets to electric vehicles by 2030. In many businesses operating in many parts of the world, electric vehicles are not just a good way to gain some clean cred — they are also just good business.
“With logistics companies operating some of the world’s biggest delivery fleets, these businesses are well placed to accelerate the switch to electric vehicles, tackle climate change and reduce air pollution in cities,” Helen Clarkson, CEO, The Climate Group said. “The EV transition is well underway. To stay competitive, all major companies should start transitioning their fleets now, and automakers must get on with increasing supply – or else risk losing out on this huge opportunity.”
Image credit: Pexels
The parallel moves signal the importance of addressing catastrophic climate change intentionally, directly, with the tools we have available. Electrifying low-speed, predictable route vehicles like mail delivery vehicles has always stood out to me as one of the most obvious use cases for electric vehicles, but the mileage is often such that it makes it hard to justify buying a new vehicle just to improve emissions. Having said that, utilizing the regular vehicle refresh cycles to upgrade a fleet to electric vehicles can make the transition a much easier pill to swallow. Often, the lower cost of fuel and maintenance can make EVs the lower cost option over the life of the vehicle, without even taking emissions into account.
The focus for cleaning up the emissions of passenger vehicles to date has largely been on the consumers who purchase the vehicles, but these new announcements serve to highlight just how critical a role passenger vehicle fleets and fleet managers can and should play in the zero emission vehicle revolution.
The announcements from the Swiss Post and Austrian Post join Portugal’s EDP and New Zealand’s Meridian Energy in making commitments to EV100. The commitments of the four companies will together switch 22,000 fossil-fuel vehicles to electric. … With two out of three new cars in Europe being sold to the private sector, business commitments to electric vehicles send a clear signal of demand for EVs to automakers.”
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