Austrian Post: We have kept our sustainability promise
Austrian Post has launched emission-free delivery in Innsbruck with 145 electric vehicles now on the road delivering parcels, letters, print media and advertising. Green electricity from Austria is used to operate the electric vehicles. “With the so-called Twin Transition, we are tackling two important changes together, namely the transition to a more sustainable economy and at the same time the transition to a digital society. It is important to take advantage of the opportunities offered by digitalisation and thus find innovative solutions in order to be fit for the future. With the 145 electric vehicles and 126 charging stations in Innsbruck that are supplied with green electricity, Austrian Post is taking a decisive step towards a digital and sustainable future,” said Florian Tursky, State Secretary for Digitalisation. “We have kept our sustainability promise and are now starting green delivery in Innsbruck! Whether it’s an online order, a letter from the authorities or a flyer with important offers, our e-fleet ensures CO2-free delivery in any case. In Innsbruck, we will now cover around one million kilometres per year purely electrically, saving almost 100,000 litres of diesel,” explains Peter Umundum, Director of the Board of Management for Parcel & Logistics at Österreichische Post AG. Parcel deliveries are made directly from the Tirol logistics centre in Vomp. Letters, print media and advertising items are delivered from three delivery bases in the city of Innsbruck. Austrian Post has set up a total of 126 charging stations and put 145 electric vehicles into operation. The total investment costs amount to around four million euros. TEST OPERATION OF FOUR-WHEEL DRIVE VEHICLES WITH FOSSIL-FREE FUELAustrian Post is making another innovation in mountain delivery: in the cadastral municipalities of Hötting and Hungerburg, which are part of Innsbruck, two four-wheel drive vehicles are required for year-round delivery. Since there are currently no electrically powered commercial vehicles with all-wheel drive on the market, Austrian Post is refuelling these two delivery vehicles with Hydrotreated Vegetable Oils (HVO) for the first time. This is a renewable fuel that can be produced from waste, fats, vegetable residues and vegetable oils. Compared to fossil diesel, up to 90 percent of CO2 emissions can be saved over the product life cycle, according to the manufacturer. The two vehicles are clearly identifiable as carriers of this bridge technology by attached stickers.Austrian Post expects that the first electric all-wheel-drive commercial vehicles will be available by the end of the year and that the last two combustion vehicles can then also be retired in Innsbruck. Austrian POST’S E-FLEET GROWS TO OVER 4,000 EV VEHICLESWith the implementation of the “Green Innsbruck”, Austrian Post has also put its 4,000th electric vehicle into operation. Austrian Post’s e-fleet is not only by far the largest in the country, it is also growing rapidly. Since spring 2022, only electric vehicles have been purchased in delivery, with around 1,000 new electric vehicles added every year. The Austria-wide e-fleet consists of 1,052 e-bikes, e-cargo bikes, e-mopeds and e-trikes as well as 2,970 e-vans. By 2030, Austrian Post will convert its entire delivery fleet of 10,000 vehicles to electric drive and deliver all consignments completely emission-free. Austrian Post already produces some of the electricity required for this itself: 27 photovoltaic systems with a capacity of around 9 megawatts peak (MWp) have been installed throughout Austria, including the photovoltaic system at the Tyrol logistics centre, which already has an output of almost 2.3 MWp. The Austria-wide expansion of a further 11 MWp is already planned. Only green electricity from Austria is purchased.
