La Poste teams with utility to develop vehicle charging networks
France’s La Poste has formed a partnership with the power transmission division of the second largest French utility company, EDF, to develop recharging networks for electric delivery vehicles. The agreement was signed earlier this week by ERDF chief executive Michele Bellon and Jean-Paul Bailly, the Groupe La Poste chairman, who since April 2010 has been leading a government-supported initiative to accelerate the development electric vehicle technology for large-scale deployment.
In a two-year research and development programme, the partners will seek to create a standard technology for use managing power distribution within charging networks for corporate fleets, making use of ERDF’s expertise in electricity transmission and control.
The project will involve contributions from academia and the research community as well as from industry.
La Poste will bring its experience in sustainable fleet management to the project through its outsourcing process subsidiary Extelia and sustainable transport consultancy division Greenovia.
Research and development activities will be taking place in ERDF and postal sites in Paris, Nantes, Grenoble and Nice.
The French government is aiming to expand the country’s use of zero tailpipe emission electric vehicles to 2m vehicles by 2020, with Jean-Paul Bailly chairing an initiative that will see La Poste taking on 10,000 Renault Kangoo ZE vehicles by 2015.
The first 1,600 vehicles are expected to be delivered to postal delivery staff in 2012.
La Poste said it would also have “well over” 10,000 electric bikes and light four-wheeled “Quaddeos” within four years, forming the “most extensive fleet of electric vehicles in the world”.
The company, which has the largest corporate fleet in France with more than 50,000 vehicles, wants to become the benchmark for sustainable urban logistics, while reducing carbon emissions by 20% per household served.
“Clean vehicles developed for mail delivery improve the working conditions of mail carriers with the smooth, silent running offered by electric vehicles,” said La Poste. “In the same way, highly manoeuvrable electric Quaddeos allow easy driving in city centres, and electric bikes can be used to replace motorbikes while reducing effort on a delivery route.”
