Royal Mail, in collaboration with Magtec, are to trial electric truck technology with two new 19-tonne vehicles which will operate under real world conditions in North West London.
The Royal Mail already boast the UK’s largest electric delivery fleet by virtue of their fleet strategy which has for some time been focussing on transitioning their small vans to electric. By July of this year, Royal Mail will have over 7,000 electric vans in use across the UK, most of which will be charged on-site at their delivery offices via a 100% renewable electricity supply.
Magtec is the UK’s largest manufacturer of electric and range-extended vehicle drive systems which are designed to match or exceed the performance of existing vehicles.
Their electric vehicles have already covered over 2.5 million miles on UK roads and the company has previously delivered government-backed innovation programmes through the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK (APC) and Small Business Research Initiatibve (SBRi).
The MEV190 electric trucks have been acquired with the help of an £800,000 grant from Innovate UK. The first will be based at the Greenford Mail Centre in North West London, delivering and collecting mail to and from nearby delivery offices.
Flexible battery options mean that the truck can cover up to 125 miles on a single charge – enough to cover most urban delivery routes. The powerful motor delivers the strength needed for heavy loads and can power the truck to speeds of up to 56mph.
Key features of the MEV190 electric truck:
- Size: 19-tonnes – suitable for typical urban and regional deliveries
- Range: Up to 125 miles on a single charge
- Charging Time: 3 hours for a full charge
- Battery Life: Designed to last 10 years
- Environmental Impact: Zero exhaust emissions
- Flexibility: Different battery sizes available to match specific route needs
Marcus Jenkins, CTO at Magtec, commented: ‘This collaboration represents a significant milestone in advancing EV technology for medium-duty trucks. By addressing the challenges of power inefficiencies and range anxiety, we aim to provide fleet operators with a reliable, cost-effective solution that supports their decarbonisation goals while maintaining operational reliability.’
Anna Pearson, Fleet Innovation and Environment Manager at Royal Mail, said: ‘We’re excited to welcome the Magtec truck to the Royal Mail fleet. We’ve been rolling out electric vans in our ‘final mile’ fleet for a number of years, and now we want to learn more about how we can decarbonise our national distribution fleet of over 4,000 trucks. This trial will help strengthen our position as the UK’s largest electric delivery fleet operator, while ensuring we have the reliability we need for the challenge of delivering to every single one of the UK’s 32 million addresses.’
Martin Welch, Senior Project Delivery Lead at the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK (APC), said: ‘Magtec’s high-performance electric drive train technology is now excellently positioned to seize a growth market opportunity. As demand for electric vehicles increases both for first-build and re-power applications, so does the need for versatile and effective powertrain systems like those offered by Magtec.
‘APC is delighted to see the results of its collaborative R&D projects delivering products to the automotive sector at scale. Making these systems efficient and affordable is essential to enable decarbonisation of the range of commercial vehicles currently in use, while still delivering customer priorities like drivability, range, and efficiency.’
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