FedEx Vehicle Electrification
Vehicle Electrification – One essential part of our mission to operate carbon neutrally is electrifying a sizable chunk of our global fleet of over 200,000 motorized vehicles. By gradually converting the whole Fedex parcel PUD fleet to zero-emission vehicles by 2040, we are transforming our vehicle fleet.
In January 2022, we extended our agreement to include the purchase of 2,000 additional electric vans over the following few years. In 2021, FedEx Express committed to purchasing 500 electric vehicles from BrightDrop, a new venture from General Motors. We are currently developing a strategy to add up to 20,000 more, subject to additional discussions and the signing of a legally binding purchase agreement.
Along the way to operating carbon-neutrally, FedEx Office and FedEx Freight are both investigating pilot programmes to electrify their fleets of vehicles. In addition to establishing the required infrastructure at our facilities to allow access to third-party charging solutions, FedEx Ground is developing a comprehensive strategy to ease the transition to electric vehicles for independent service providers.
We use cutting-edge technology to boost vehicle economy in order to advance our electrification goal and improve our intelligent logistics system. We operate in metropolitan areas where restrictions to limit the number of automobiles or establish low-emission zones are progressively being implemented, and we do so by utilizing cutting-edge specialised delivery technology. The FedEx SameDay Bot® RoxoTM is an autonomous delivery tool created to assist businesses in making last-mile and on-demand deliveries to their customers.
Vehicle Electrification
We have implemented 70 solutions across Europe as part of our Zero Emission City Deliveries Solutions programme, including cargo bicycles and electric vehicles, to improve the mobility alternatives for deliveries in urban areas. FedEx Express and Neolix are evaluating the use of an autonomous, electric delivery vehicle in China. In addition, compared to conventional last-mile vehicles, our expanding fleet of electric bikes produces less noise and combustion engine exhaust. In some foreign places, including Toronto and London, electric bikes have completely replaced our vehicles.
Additionally, across all of our operational firms, we keep electrifying forklifts, airport ground support vehicles, and other non-road vehicles. We are lowering fuel and maintenance expenses thanks to our phased strategy, and we expect to increase our efficiency even further when new technology is developed.
We must make sure that our facilities have the required vehicle charging infrastructure and technology before we deploy the electric vehicles we’ve ordered. Although constructing this infrastructure will take a lot of time and money, our team’s dedication to our creative plan—combined with our partnership with power utilities, state and local governments, and regulatory agencies—will keep us on track to meet our goal of delivering more comprehensive low-carbon infrastructure solutions. Although the charging of electric vehicles will result in a large rise in our electricity consumption, we are researching tactical solutions to this problem. Read more in this chapter’s Facilities section about our plan to cut emissions in light of our rising electricity use.
The fuel efficiency gains made by FedEx Express through improved driving routes and fleet replacement with more fuel-efficient vehicles serve as the foundation for our vehicle electrification strategy. In addition to previous strategies, we introduced the Last Mile Optimization initiative in FY20 to deliver specific FedEx Express packages via FedEx Ground. FedEx Express aimed to reach a 50% improvement by 2025 after increasing vehicle fuel efficiency by 42% from a baseline in 2005 through FY21. In the future, we intend to increase the fuel efficiency of our fleet and reduce fuel consumption by deploying electric vehicles.
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