Waitrose and John Lewis to switch to electric vehicles as online business grows
Waitrose and John Lewis are to increase their use of electric vans as part of plans to end their use of fossil fuels across their transport fleets by 2030.
The John Lewis Partnership said it will use two new designs of vehicle for its Waitrose and small John Lewis deliveries in order to save over 20,000 tonnes of CO2 each year.
Due to be trialled early in 2021, the electric vans will not only produce fewer pollutants, but will be quieter and have more capacity than their diesel counterparts.
Justin Laney, general manager of central transport at the John Lewis Partnership, said: “As our online services rapidly expand, we’re working hard to meet our goal of operating a zero fossil fuel in the next ten years. Our new electric vans are an ideal solution for home deliveries; the innovative design means they’re more efficient, but also respectful to the environment and the growing number of neighbourhoods in which we deliver.”
Since accelerating its online delivery capability due to the Covid-19 crisis, Waitrose has added more than 100,000 customer order slots each week to its service to take the weekly total to more than 160,000.
News of the electric vans follows the John Lewis Partnership’s recent announcement that it is building a dedicated biomethane gas filling station to enable its largest heavy goods vehicles to use a low-carbon alternative to diesel. This will reduce CO2 emissions by 80%, with each truck saving over 100 tonnes of CO2 every year.
