Sendle, Australia’s first 100% carbon neutral parcel delivery service, has taken the next step in its sustainable shipping mission by rolling out the first fleet of solar fueled electric vehicles for small business parcel delivery in partnership with Bonds Couriers.
Led by ethical business and carbon conscious consumers, the shipping sector is on the cusp of major environmental reform. Sendle and Bonds both take the responsibility to lead industry change seriously and look forward to the day when every parcel in Australia is shipped carbon neutrally.
The fleet of 100% electric vans don’t use electricity off the grid but are powered on site by 319 solar panels at the Bonds depot in Western Sydney and can work full 10 hour days, covering over 200 kilometres in metropolitan areas and still finish the day with ample charge.
Each electric vehicle is saving over 220 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre, which on a typical 200km journey day saves 44 kilograms of CO2 (that’s equivalent to burning 19 litres of petrol), with no fossil fuels consumed and zero emissions.
The shift to electric vehicles is more vital now than ever, as the current eCommerce boom triggered by COVID-19 has seen a significant increase in parcel volumes, surpassing Christmas levels.
More delivery trucks on the road usually means more carbon emissions, and while Sendle already offsets its carbon emissions, this partnership is a step further towards a future of zero emissions delivery.
What does this mean for Sendle?
Sendle co-founder and CEO, James Chin Moody, “We believe that shipping can be good for the world and environmental stewardship is a key part of that. The devastating bushfires this year were a terrible reminder of what is at stake if we don’t take action to drastically lower our carbon emissions.”
“Everyone, including business, has an important role to play in creating a sustainable future. It’s mission critical that we continue to reform the industry and the arrival of Bonds’ solar powered electric vehicle fleet couldn’t be more perfectly timed.
“We are Australia’s first 100% carbon neutral delivery service and we’re always looking for ways to reduce our carbon footprint and optimize for sustainable delivery across the entire network. We’re proud to partner with Bonds as part of that commitment.
“Australia’s transport and shipping industry emitted 102 million tonnes of CO2 in 2018. That’s 18% of the country’s total annual greenhouse gas pollution. The move to solar fueled electric vehicles shows that wide scale industry reform is possible and is happening now.”
Bonds Couriers CEO, Jonathan Ryce said, “Working with Sendle to roll out electric vans charged by our very own solar array is a pivotal moment for our business.
“Our partnership has seen us delivering an increasing number of parcels for small businesses in the eCommerce industry and there’s huge interest from our customers for electric vehicles and sustainable shipping.
“We hope this move will inspire our peers in the industry to know that doing greener business is not only possible but vital to our long term viability.”
To begin with, Sendle and Bonds plan to have up to 20 solar powered electric delivery vans on the road and will continue expanding the fleet over time.
