Freight and logistics company ANC Delivers says it has achieved key milestones as part of its $45.5 million sustainability initiative, including adding approximately 60 new EVs to its fleet of delivery vehicles.
The company announced the milestones at an event last Friday, at which Minister for Climate Change and Energy Chris Bowen was a guest speaker.
ANC’s initiative, named Project Spark, was announced in June last year and included $12.8 million in funding from the Australian Renewable Energy Agency’s (ARENA) Driving the Nation Fund.
ANC is delivery partner to major Australian retailers like IKEA, JB HI-FI, Bunnings, and Who Gives a Crap. The vehicles it has bought are mostly LDV ED9 and JAC N90 delivery trucks.
The company’s Chief Growth and Sustainability Officer, Mo Abbas, said the project has helped the company address key challenges to EV uptake among their fleet.
“Up until now, multiple constraints have made it hard for our industry to transition away from internal combustion engine vehicles,” Abbas said. “Currently, owner-drivers considering BEV trucks face higher capital costs, limited access to charging infrastructure, costly and complex charging options for larger format vehicles, and constrained revenue potential.”
Abbas said the company had addressed these issues through initiatives like bulk purchasing, flexible financing, and strategic partnerships with select insurers.
The company also teamed up with Origin Energy, Spot Lumos, Atecco and others to make it easier for their drivers to access charging infrastructure. Origin Energy, for example, installed at-home charging stations for owner-drivers.
ANC wants to convert at least 30 per cent of its fleet to zero-emissions by 2028.
Zero-emissions delivery is a major focus of companies seeking to meet their climate commitments, including IKEA, which aims to hit net zero emissions across its operations by 2050.
In 2022, the retailer – or, more accurately, its worldwide franchiser Inter IKEA Systems B.V. – launched a pilot deploying solar-powered cargo bikes to deliver packages in Delft, Netherlands.
But scaling electrification at the level of large-scale delivery fleets moving bigger goods remains a challenge.
In 2019, IKEA Australia announced a goal of zero emissions for all deliveries by 2025, and new data shows the company has made progress on that goal with 65 per cent of truck deliveries now fulfilled by electric vehicles, up from just 5 per cent in 2022.
But the company, which revised its goal down from 100 per cent electric to 90 per cent by 2025, has pushed for more support from governments, both state and Federal, to meet the unique needs of an all-electric delivery fleet.
“We… need targeted policy from state and federal governments to help overcome the unique challenges of the delivery ecosystem and support the electrification of delivery vehicles including vans and trucks,” IKEA Australia said in a statement.