Royal Mail trials first electric truck

Royal Mail is deploying two new 19-tonne electric trucks to assess their performance against its existing diesel fleet vehicles.

Working in partnership with Magtec, the trial is being supported by an £800,000 grant which has been facilitated by the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) UK in collaboration with the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) and Innovate UK.

The company’s first ever electric truck will be based at the Greenford Mail Centre in northwest London. It will deliver and collect mail to and from nearby delivery offices.

Flexible battery options mean that the truck can cover up to 125 miles on a single charge – enough to cover most urban delivery routes.

The results of the trial will help Royal Mail and other fleet operators understand the real-world benefits and practicalities of switching to electric vehicles (EVs).

Anna Pearson, fleet innovation and environment manager at Royal Mail, said: “We’re excited to welcome the Magtec truck to the Royal Mail fleet.

“We’ve been rolling out electric vans in our ‘final mile’ fleet for a number of years, and now we want to learn more about how we can decarbonise our national distribution fleet of over 4,000 trucks.

“This trial will help strengthen our position as the UK's largest electric delivery fleet operator, while ensuring we have the reliability we need for the challenge of delivering to every single one of the UK’s 32 million addresses.”

Magtec, a specialist in EV components and driveline systems, has successfully delivered previous Government-backed innovation programmes through the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK (APC) and Small Business Research Initiative (SBRi).

The new Gen2 system builds on this proven expertise, offering improved efficiency and reliability for everyday delivery operations.

Marcus Jenkins, chief technology officer at Magtec, said: “This collaboration represents a significant milestone in advancing EV technology for medium-duty trucks.

“By addressing the challenges of power inefficiencies and range anxiety, we aim to provide fleet operators with a reliable, cost-effective solution that supports their decarbonisation goals while maintaining operational reliability.”

Smaller electric vans are already an important part of Royal Mail’s fleet strategy. By July 2025, Royal Mail will have over 7,000 electric vans in use across the UK.

Most of the vans will be charged on-site at Royal Mail’s delivery offices via a purchased 100% renewable electricity supply, meaning they will be zero-emission.

It deployed its 6,000th EV at Manchester Mail Centre in January and purchased its first 100 electric vans in December 2017. It took delivery of its 5,000th EV in July 2023.   

Royal Mail’s ‘Steps to Zero’ environment strategy set a goal of achieving Net-Zero by 2040. The company has already reduced Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 18% in two years, with a target to achieve a 50% reduction by 2030.

Martin Welch, senior project delivery lead at the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK (APC), said: “Magtec’s high-performance electric drive train technology is now excellently positioned to seize a growth market opportunity.

“As demand for electric vehicles increases both for first-build and re-power applications, so does the need for versatile and effective powertrain systems like those offered by Magtec.

“APC is delighted to see the results of its collaborative R&D projects delivering products to the automotive sector at scale.

“Making these systems efficient and affordable is essential to enable decarbonisation of the range of commercial vehicles currently in use, while still delivering customer priorities like drivability, range, and efficiency.”