The Mayor of London, , is helping cut toxic vehicle
emissions on London’s roads with a trial fleet of 25 electric
vans which are delivering thousands of items during the busy
festive sales.
Over half of London’s filthy air pollution is caused by dirty
diesel and old petrol vehicle emissions. The Mayor is determined
to help Londoners breathe cleaner air and wants to work with
freight companies to reduce the number of large lorries on
London’s roads and encourage the use of cleaner vehicles like
electric vans.
Freight vans and HGVs make up over 30 per cent of all traffic in
central London and currently 97 per cent of them are diesel. The
new all-electric vans produce zero exhaust emissions providing a
much cleaner alternative to diesel freight vehicles.
The new vans have been delivering an average of 80,000 parcels a
week to Londoners during the Christmas season, reaching a high of
18,600 deliveries in a single day after Black Friday. The vans
are some of the largest electric vehicles currently on the road
and have been fitted with innovative hardware which remotely
monitors environmental emissions performance, electric vehicle
range, and electrical energy consumed.
The vans are funded through a £1.1million partnership with the
Mayor, Innovate UK, and freight company Gnewt Cargo who deliver
parcels from a variety of retailers across central London. The
trial will test and assess the commercial viability of electric
delivery vehicles and encourage other freight companies to switch
to cleaner vehicles.
The Mayor is doing everything in his power to clean up London’s
air including transforming the bus fleet, introducing the
T-Charge which is the toughest new emission standard of any world
city in central London, and confirming he will bring in the ULEZ
17 months earlier than originally planned, in April 2019. Sadiq
has also expanded the ULEZ standards to include a particulate
matter standard for harmful PM2.5 pollution.
The Deputy Mayor for Environment and Energy, Shirley Rodrigues,
said: “Electric delivery vans have an important role to play in
helping lower harmful emissions and improve air quality on our
roads. The Mayor is determined to take the bold action needed to
protect Londoners from our toxic air and wants much greater use
of electric vehicles as we move towards becoming a zero emissions
city.”
The electric vans will be charged using specially designed rapid
charging points at Gnewt’s depot which are fitted with SMART
technology which identifies the most efficient time of day to
charge the vans.
Sam Clarke, Founder and Head of Business Development at Gnewt
Cargo, said: “These innovative vehicles have already proved
invaluable in allowing a far greater level of productivity at the
busiest time of year. Gnewt is grateful for the contributions of
Innovate UK and the support of the Mayor in achieving the
successes that this project is already demonstrating.”
