In conjunction with London’s Cross River Partnership, United Parcel Service (UPS) has partnered with UK Power Networks to run the Smart Electric Urban Logistics (SEUL) project.
UPS has been running 52 electric powered delivery vans in and around London, though the company says that there are issues with the availability of charging points for its fleet and this has restricted its ability to run any more vans of this kind. However, according to the Cross River Partnership, the vans in use are “well integrated into their fleet and daily operations.”
The SEUL project is designed to build on the knowledge gained from operating UPS existing fleet and to help the logistics giant deploy a further 20 fully electric vans out of its Camden depot. It also seeks to “explore a smart charging alternative to costly and disruptive electricity grid infrastructure upgrades.”
The SEUL project is a two year project that began on the 1st April. The aim is to make the knowledge gained publicly available through the Cross River Partnership, and the data will be made as the project continues up until March 2019.
UPS has one of the biggest delivery vehicle fleets in the world and in moving over to zero emissions could significantly curtail its own carbon emissions. A company of this size doing so could be a beacon for its smaller competitors.
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