FedEx Express welcomes Mercedes-Benz eSprinters to UK fleet

FedEx Express Europe has added 23 Mercedes-Benz eSprinters to its UK fleet operations.

The 3.5t fully electric vehicles (EVs) have been allocated to FedEx Express stations in Bermondsey (19 vans) and Hornsey (4 vans).

The pick-up and delivery vehicles fulfil routes in central London.

Earlier this year, 19 charging points were installed to accommodate the electric vans ordered for Bermondsey station, while 20 charging points have been installed in Hornsey, in anticipation of the site’s future energy needs.

Both sites are supplied with renewable energy and have sufficient capacity to charge the maximum number of vehicles onsite overnight.

Robert Peto, vice president operations UK, FedEx Express, said: “Our employees and customers alike are excited to see the first of these vehicles out and about in London, making zero-tailpipe emissions parcel pickup and deliveries more commonplace for us as we gradually electrify our FedEx-owned pick-up and delivery fleet in Europe.”

David Perdomo Hollatz, head of sales and marketing Mercedes-Benz Vans Region Europe and Germany, said: "I am pleased that our battery-electric eSprinter vehicles are helping FedEx Express towards its own goals in the area of locally emissions-free pick-up and delivery.

“Reliability and customer orientation are important values, in logistics as well as in vehicle manufacturing. As a company, Mercedes-Benz is committed to these values."

In March 2021, FedEx Express set a global target for 50% of all newly-procured parcel pick-up and delivery vehicles to be electric by 2025.

This should rise to 100% of new vehicle orders by 2030, contributing to a desired position of carbon-neutral operations around the world by 2040.

In line with the FedEx ‘Reduce, Replace, Revolutionize’ approach to sustainability, these new EVs will allow existing FedEx diesel vehicles that still have an ‘operational lifespan’ to be redistributed in its fleet, and older vehicles retired from operations completely, it said.

FedEx Express stations in Barking, Enfield, and Milton are next in line to receive EVs in 2024, with an expansion of charging infrastructure planned for a further three pick-up and delivery stations in and around London.