Tesco says its trial with low-emission vans has shown that hybrid electric vehicles may be the way ahead for future investment, because purely electric vehicles have operational limitations.
The supermarket became the first company to run a fleet of zero-emission Modec electric vehicles after investing in 15 of the panel vans for home deliveries last year. It has since cut CO2 emissions by 225 tonnes across its fleet.
Tesco says it will continue to run the vehicles, but will address
issues over their cost, range and the driving licences required to drive them.
Duncan Vavangas, Tesco.com's fleet engineering manager, says: "The electric van is 60% more expensive in capital costs [compared to diesel]. Electric vans have their limitations. Their range is around 100 miles. They're also heavier, around 5.5 tonnes, so we have driver-related issues on driving licences. Hybrids, operationally, are way ahead."
But Vavangas adds that electric vans are ideal for city running, and says Tesco will be buying more to be used in up to 20 stores around the country. It hopes to increase the fleet to cover stores in Glasgow, Birmingham and Belfast by the end of June.
Vavangas says: "We will look at all the other stores and work out if they can take electric vans. Some of the older stores don't have the infrastructure to plug them in."
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