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Coming soon to a mailbox near you… NZ Post will roll out its new electric delivery vehicles this year.
Posties are set to hop aboard new electric vehicles, with NZ Post taking delivery of its first shipment of new electric delivery vehicles in Auckland last month.
The delivery of 50 vehicles is the next step in preparation for a nationwide rollout that starts later this year and should be complete by mid-2017.
Looking similar to battery-powered mobility scooters, but a little larger, they are made by Norwegian manufacturers Paxster AS.
The NZ Transport Agency approved the vehicles for operation on public roads but they are still to get the big tick from Auckland Transport, which is needed as the Transport Agency left the issue of public footpath use to individual councils and CCOs.
Auckland Transport is now working through NZ Post’s proposals, assessing footpaths where the vehicles will not be allowed, such as those in busy pedestrian areas in shopping centres, and around schools.
NZ Post’s acting chief operating officer Mark Stewart says that ultimately, around 500 of the vehicles will be in operation around the country.
“We believe this will be the largest fleet of road legal, fully electric vehicles in New Zealand,” he says. “The vehicles, in combination with a range of new parcel services, will improve parcel delivery for customers. They’ll also reduce our impact on the environment.”
The NZ Post group already has 50 fully electric vehicles in its delivery operation and 118 hybrid cars in the Kiwibank fleet, and Mark says the addition of the Paxsters will have a big impact.
“Early calculations suggest New Zealand Post will make very good reductions in fuel costs and greenhouse gas emissions by using these electric vehicles.”
The Paxsters received the 2013 Award for Design Excellence from the Norwegian Design Council.
Paxster AS chief executive Lasse André Hansen says the company spent four years developing the technology, which he says is revolutionising the mail delivery industry with regard to efficiency, the environment and the work environment.
The Paxsters will be used for combined parcel and mail deliveries in residential areas of New Zealand’s larger towns and cities. NZ Post says they may be used on the Hibiscus Coast by early next year. A successful pilot has already been held in New Plymouth as well as road trials in Auckland and Wellington.
