- FedEx has announced that its Express subsidiary has deployed a fleet of zero-tailpipe emission electric delivery vehicles in SA.
- The deployment consists of 10 EVs and is part of a larger global objective to make its delivery/pickup operations fully emission-free by 2040.
- FedEx Express plans to make 100 percent of its new vehicle purchases electric by 2030.
FedEx Express, a subsidiary of the larger global transportation company, has announced the deployment of a local fleet of electric delivery vehicles.
The company has specifically purchased 10 new electric vehicles to handle deliveries and pickups in South Africa, with it forming part of the bigger sustainability goal of FedEx when it comes to zero emissions.
“Introducing EVs in South Africa marks an important milestone for FedEx, as the company works towards its goal to transform its entire global pickup and delivery fleet to zero-emission electric vehicles by 2040,” the company explained in a press release sent to Hypertext.
“To achieve this, FedEx Express will purchase 50% of its new vehicles as electric by 2025 and 100% of purchases will be electric by 2030. In 2021, FedEx conducted EV trials in South Africa to test the vehicle’s technology and assess its operational effectiveness on a standard route fully loaded with packages,” it added.
FedEx is not the first operator looking to employ EVs for its deliveries, with Woolworths having recently announced the same as part of its ecommerce ecosystem.
As for the new Express fleet, the company notes that the new vehicles are the MAXUS eDeliver 3, which have zero-tailpipe emissions, and on a full charge have a delivery range of 240 kilometres.
“With the explosion of e-commerce, transforming our operations to be more sustainable is now more important than ever. We believe that this investment in EV technology will not only benefit the environment but also improve the efficiency of our operations, and ultimately provide a better service to our customers,” noted Natasha Parmanand, MD of FedEx Express Sub-Saharan Africa, regarding the new fleet.
