With a fleet of over 2,700 vehicles, ordinarily An Post would be the ones doing the deliveries, but the postal carrier recently took a special delivery of its own. With a view to cutting its €10 million annual fuel bill An Post has tied up with Renault Ireland to pit an electric Kangoo Z.E. against its traditional diesel counterpart to compare energy efficiency, maintenance costs and overall performance over a 12-month like-for-like study.
"We are unique in how much of the country we cover every working day, delivering to 2.1 million businesses and home addresses in all kinds of terrain, through all types of weather. An Post is constantly introducing more efficient and more effective ways of working but new methods have to balance environmental and economic sustainability," explained An Post Chief Executive, Donal Connell.
The test will be carried out over designated city postal routes in Dublin, Cork and Galway with each vehicle's energy usage and overall running costs monitored alongside those of the diesel model, of which An Post has currently 940 in its fleet.
"We are delighted to launch this trial with An Post, the first of its type with the Renault Kangoo Z.E. in Ireland. The data established will be of great benefit to other companies looking at incorporating Renault EVs into their fleet as we have best offering of electric vehicles in terms of price, choice, benefits and range," commented Eric Basset, Managing Director of Renault Ireland.