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Online retailer in South Africa moves to locally-made electric delivery cargo vans

Faithful to Nature, an online retailer of natural and sustainable products is taking additional steps towards carbon-neutral delivery by introducing two electric cargo vans to its express delivery offering in Cape Town.

It claims to be among the first retailers in South Africa to launch these new smaller, locally made three-wheeler electric cargo vans in partnership with Carbon Neutral Express.

These cars, produced by Mellowvans, emit no carbon emissions because they run on lithium batteries -not fossil fuels, which make economic and environmental sense in a world where most urban trips are around 5 km or less, it said.

“We’ve always been conscious of our deliveries’ carbon footprint, so when the opportunity arose to use electric vehicles, we were ready for it. We are excited to be using electric vehicles made in South Africa, as supporting local and sustainable organisations has always been at the forefront of what we do,” said Paul Cook, CEO of Faithful to Nature.

“Not only will this reduce our carbon footprint, but it also means our customers will benefit from lower express delivery costs, which will decrease dramatically. Orders over R400 will cost only R40, and orders under R400 only R20. It’s better for our planet and our customers,” he said.

The electric cargo vans will be trialled in Cape Town, servicing express deliveries (within 3 hours or less) to the Southern Suburbs, City Centre, and Atlantic Seaboard. If successful, the retailer said it will expand into Johannesburg from its Gauteng Warehouse.

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Retailer Woolworths said in June that it will embark on an extensive rollout of electric panel vans (EVs) in partnership with DSV and Everlectric to deliver their customers’ online purchases in Gauteng, Cape Town and Durban.

It follows a successful 10-month trial, the group said. The rollout will result in up to 70% of the retailer’s fleet being powered by electricity which according to the figures from the trial, will have on an annual basis the potential to save 700,000 kgs of tailpipe carbon emissions, said Woolworths.

Read: Woolies to ramp up rollout of electric delivery vehicles

Artmotion S.Africa

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