AF Blakemore trials electric truck for deliveries

A wholesaler has held a week-long trial to evaluate the effectiveness of the new 19-tonne electric truck

The vehicle delivered to Spar stores within a 100-mile radius of the depot in the West Midlands across a week in March. The vehicle is an Electra e-Cargo, and is the first UKs first zero-emissions, temperature-controlled truck.

The replacement of just one of Blakemore’s current diesel rigids with the e-cargo could save the company upwards of 30 tonnes of CO2 emissions each year.

The vehicle takes up to 10 hours to charge at the company’s Willenhall lorry park, powering the truck with 130 miles of distance was fully charged.

The company’s commitment goes beyond reducing its transport emissions and in January A.F. Blakemore welcomed a new environmental sustainability manager to its Responsible Business team to drive its environmental sustainability strategy forward.

AF Blackmore has also begun the roll out of electric home delivery vans, investing in charging points at its depots across the region to aid the ease of electric delivery to its SPAR stores.

With government plans to only sell zero-emission HGVs in the UK by 2040, non-zero-emission HGVs weighing 26 tonnes and below will be phased out by 2035 allowing Blackmore to be ahead of the future for sustainable delivery.

“This trial will move AFB a step closer to introducing its first electric HGV, and we are excited to be involved in the drive towards a more sustainable future,” said AF Blakemore Logisitics Compliance Manager Dave Higgs.

“If the test week is successful, the business will be looking at more suppliers of electric vehicles. We are hoping to do several trials over the next five years to understand the potential of electric HGVs and how they could be incorporated into our fleet.”