Dutch retailer Albert Heijn wants to deliver groceries zero-emission from 2025. The supermarket will start using Light Electronic Vehicles (LEV) from producer Addax for deliveries in the city of Amersfoort. Within two years, these electric minivans should be driving in all cities in the Netherlands.
The LEV is 1.40 m wide and can easily maneuver in a busy city center or residential area. The minibus has a range of up to 130 kilometers, a maximum speed of 65 km/hr, and can transport 36 crates or refrigerated boxes at a time.
In Breda, Albert Heijn is testing various electric cargo bikes for the delivery of groceries in the coming months. These have a load capacity of twenty crates or refrigerated boxes. If the trial is successful, delivery bikes will be installed in more inner cities.
Philip Padberg, e-commerce director at Albert Heijn sees light electric vehicles as a good alternative for sustainable delivery within large cities: “More and more people have their groceries delivered at home. This also results in more traffic from our delivery vehicles. That’s why we are constantly looking to see if this can be done in a quieter and more environmentally friendly way, and we are also testing this extensively.”
In order to achieve the targets in 2025, Albert Heijn is not only focusing on electric delivery with, among others, the DKTI AZED project. It is also important to minimize traffic movements and thus the number of kilometers driven as much as possible. Albert Heijn delivers groceries through a network of seven regional Home Shop Centers (the eighth will open in Roosendaal later this year) and 23 local hubs. A hub is a place on the outskirts of a city where groceries ordered online are delivered by a large truck. From there, smaller delivery trucks drive into the city center.
In addition, Albert Heijn uses smart algorithms in planning all delivery trips. With these measures, the CO2 emissions per home delivery were reduced by 20% by 2020.
Source: Albert Heijn
Photo: Albert Heijn | Yasmin Hargreave
