Zero emissions pizza: Domino’s trials electric delivery vehicles in Queensland

One large pepperoni pizza with zero emissions? Coming right up.

At least, that is how pizzas will be delivered soon on the Gold Coast and in Brisbane, as Domino’s Pizza begins a trial of 7 electric delivery vehicles from Brisbane-based electric mobility company Emos.

The 6 iLark electric scooter and 1 iTank will feed a growing need for quiet, nimble vehicles that can deliver easily to apartments and inner city areas.

Speaking with The Driven, Dominos chief development officer for Australia and New Zealand Rian Bell says that the move to electric delivery vehicles has “grown from the drive to become a greener and quieter fleet, because we trade [largely] late at night.”

“Motorised scooters are noisy and green is the way to go – we’ve been playing for some time with the green space and what it means, and what we’ve learned is the best service is a tight delivery area,” he says.

“The need for cars is not what they used to be, because territories are smaller.”

While Domino’s has for some time had a sizeable e-bike fleet, Bell says that the footprint of the three-wheeled iLark has an advantage because it can be more easily parked off the street.

“They’re also easy to get around traffic and pedestrians,” he says. “We think they’ll be a fast efficient delivery model for us.”

Wolfgang Roffmann, whose company Emos is supplying the vehicles to Domino’s, says he thinks they will also offer a safer, more stable transport option for delivery drivers thanks to the three-wheeled configuration and low seat that in turrn xcreates a low centre of gravity.

“On the e-bikes they can’t use the delivery backpacks because the box is so high,” he says. “But with the scooter the box is low so they can have a second backpack on.”

“Also, because they’ve got the three wheels, they are more stable. They also have a double wishbone function at the front, so if one side lifts the other one stays on the ground on uneven ground.

Another advantage of the vehicles is the swappable battery packs, which Roffman says makes sense from a commercial perspective.

While the range of the vehicles is around 35 kilometres, it is simple to have an extra battery charged back at base, allowing a quick turnaround to get the scooter back on the road.

For Bell, who also shepherds Ride Sports, a subsidiary of Domino’s that sells electric sports bikes, there is an opportunity in increasing visibility of electric mobility to get people to change the way they think about transport.

“If you live within 10 kilometres of the city, why are you driving to work?” Bell says.

“The cool factor is a big part of getting the populace into these new vehicles. You’ve got to give credit to the way disruptive technology is changing people’s thoughts.”