In a first for an Australian supermarket, Woolworths Group has announced its aim to make all its home delivery trucks 100 per cent electric-powered by 2030, which will see more than 1,000 EVs added to the nation's roads.
Woolworths Group has kick-started the transition by welcoming the first of 27 new EVs, delivering groceries to Woolworths' Sydney customers over the next two months.
Woolworths' home delivery fleet is currently made up of 1,200 trucks and growing. The last combustion engine vehicle is anticipated to join the home delivery fleet by 2027 as it is gradually decommissioned and replaced with EVs.
Woolworths Group CEO Brad Banducci said the home delivery trucks were familiar in neighbourhoods across Australia. Within the next seven years, Woolworths want to make all of them electric and free of fossil fuels.
"The case for a low carbon future has never been more transparent, and we're backing a better tomorrow for our communities and the planet by starting the transition now.
"We're proud to be putting 27 new EVs on the road in the coming weeks - in one of the many ways we're working to make grocery shopping greener," said Banducci.
"Not only can we help make our suburban streets quieter and cleaner, but we hope to set an example for other businesses to support the growth of Australia's EV industry."
All 2e new home delivery EVs will be based in Sydney, delivering groceries to customers across the CBD, Inner West, Sutherland Shire, St George region and Eastern Suburbs. The trucks will operate out of Woolworths' Customer Fulfilment Centres in Mascot and Caringbah, picking and packing the supermarket's online orders. The CFCs installed new EV infrastructure charging infrastructure.
Woolworths Group's new EVs consist of two models manufactured by Foton Motor and SAIC Motor, which both offer a sufficient working range to complete daily metro home deliveries before returning to base to charge overnight. Their state-of-the-art electric refrigeration system runs off the vehicle's battery, ensuring groceries stay cold.
Woolworths Group will continue to increase its use of electric and low emissions freight vehicles across its Primary Connect supply chain logistics business. The business is currently operating three electric heavy rigid vehicles as it trials emerging technology to help decarbonise its fleet in the long term. The technology and infrastructure to support long-haul freight's load intensity and distances is still in its infancy.
Woolworths Group also hopes to contribute to public infrastructure planning to ensure the correct charging technology and locations are considered to meet the needs of electric metro fleets and low emissions of long-haul freighter trucks, which will require accessible recharging points across regional Australia.
Through the business' ongoing decarbonisation initiatives, by 2030, Woolworths Group intends to have reduced its overall operational transport emissions by around 60 per cent compared to today and decommissioned more than 3,000 internal combustion engine vehicles from its company-wide fleet.
