MINISTER LAUNCHES ELECTRIC COURIER VEHICLES ON TO STREETS OF LONDON

Minister of State for the Third Sector, Basildon and East Thurrock MP Angela Smith launched London’s first electric powered courier vehicles on to their delivery routes this week during an official ceremony at the House of Commons.

Minister of State for the Third Sector, Basildon and East Thurrock MP Angela Smith launched London’s first electric powered courier vehicles on to their delivery routes this week during an official ceremony at the House of Commons.
The three vehicles have been bought by Basildon-based Abby Couriers and will be based at their Vauxhall depot.
Basildon and East Thurrock MP Angela Smith. Said: “I was very impressed by this electric van as it had great manoeuvrability, large load capacity and has zero emissions making it good for the environment.
“It is great to see a Basildon business taking the lead in reducing environmentally harmful emissions and investing in vehicles which I am certain will come to be a regular sight on city streets as more businesses take this responsible approach to making deliveries.”
Managing Director of Abby Couriers, Mark Giles, said: “As a family-run business Abby Couriers takes a responsible approach to the environment and has now invested nearly £85,000 to buy three specially designed electric powered vans which will be used on delivery routes in central London.
“We understand these are the first such vehicles to be used on regular courier routes in the capital and are confident that once again Abby Couriers is leading the way.
 “The vehicles we have bought have a range of 50 miles which is more than enough for the central London routes and can be charged from any 13amp socket being fully charged within eight hours at a cost of around £2 which is considerably less than a tank of petrol.
“Our new vans have a capacity of 500 kilograms which is equivalent to a Ford Connect van which is often used for similar deliveries but which has much higher running costs.
“With top speeds of 25 miles per hour they are ideal for the stop/start delivery routes which are a feature of the capital as they have zero emissions and do not add pollution to the atmosphere.
“Before buying the vehicles Abby Couriers utilised the free advice service offered by Basildon Green Business Forum and reduced our energy and other costs significantly as a result without affecting our business efficiency.
“We have been looking at  using electric vehicles on some of our routes for some time and over the summer we were able to field test some vehicles manufactured by Goupil Industrie which is one of the leading European manufacturers of electric powered commercial vehicles.
“We had one of their vehicles on trial with our Vauxhall depot  in London and it has proved very popular with our drivers who have enjoyed its speed, comfort and manoeuvrability as well as proving popular with our managers who appreciate the reduction in fuel costs, its capacity and reliability.
“We are now looking at the best way forward to add some electric vehicles to our fleet – the cost is not cheap at ££27,000 per vehicle but we think the long term benefits in terms of efficiency improvements for our business plus the environmental benefits will outweigh that additional cost.”
Founded in 1994 Abby Couriers is a family run firm with a Head Office in Luckyn Lane, Basildon – more details at www.abbycouriers.com
With almost 200 staff the firm has more than 175 drivers on the road providing Same Day Delivery Services across the United Kingdom and Europe for key clients who include DHL, FEDEX and TNT.
Abby Couriers is a member of the National Courier Association, the Federation of Small Businesses and Essex Chambers of Commerce.
During 2009 Abby Couriers won the Business to Business category in the Essex County Business Awards; the Staff Training and Development and the Business to Business Awards in the Basildon District Business Awards and the Green Business Award in the North and West London Business Awards.