Electric vehicles will remain a niche part of the FedEx Express fleet until there is a major technical breakthrough, according to the firm's senior fleet manager for Europe Middle East and Africa.
Neil Gibson, senior fleet manager, FedEx Express EMEA, says the firm is aiming to be a leader in using electric and hybrid vehicle technology. "It's a huge risk for a small company to invest the premium you need to buy [electric vehicles from] Modec, or a hybrid vehicle, [but] it's less of a risk for a large corporation. Although we are very keen to keep our eye on the bottom line with vans, especially at this time, we need to lead [with electric and hybrid vehicles], and that's part of our corporate responsibility, our strategy."
FedEx Express is currently operating 10 Modec electric vehicles successfully 
in London, out of a total UK fleet of around 420 in the UK, Gibson says.
"Although electric commercial vehicles are currently not widely deployed, I believe they do have a significant role to play in the pick-up and delivery sector, particularly on lower mileage routes," he says.
FedEx Express runs hybrid electric vehicles in a number of European countries, but not in the UK.
Technical limitations and high costs mean the use of hybrid and electric vehicles will remain niche, limited to specific areas, customers and markets, says Gibson. "For instance, electric [vehicles], until they get their range extended, will be niche. They're really going to have a limited application, and, for us in London that works, but if you're running around in the Cotswolds, it's never going to work. Those things are going to be niche until technology can take a major step forward."
Gibson says he cannot see where the technical breakthrough in electric vehicles 
will come from. If the US government "really goes for it" in terms of investment, that could drive development of battery technologies, he adds.
Until there is a breakthrough in alternative technologies, strict maintenance and further advances in diesel engines could help reduce emissions, Gibson says. "I think that cleaner technology in conventional fuel is the answer, [for] the mainstream high-mileage, average user of a commercial vehicle. That may not be what some people want to hear, but I think that diesel, from a commercial vehicle point of view, still remains the most efficient way of moving things around, pound for pound. If companies can come along and get [diesel engines] greener and meaner, and [using] less and less fuel per mile, then I think that's really the answer for operators."
The government made headlines in June when it ordered between 100 and 150 electric vans as part of a £20m Department for Transport initiative to help demonstrate the potential of new technologies for decarbonising road transport. Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis said at the time: "Electric and lower carbon vans have the potential to significantly reduce emissions, so it is important that we test these new technologies in real-world conditions."
FedEx Express has a corporate goal of reducing CO2 emissions by 20% by 2020, much of which is likely to be achieved by the company's aircraft fleet, Gibson says.
All technologies have a role to play in meeting the challenge of reducing carbon emissions, he adds. "FedEx Express has a long history of leadership in providing technological solutions to the transportation and logistics industry," he says.
The firm has recently increased its hybrid fleet by 50% with the addition of 92 hybrid-electric trucks in the US. With 264 hybrid vehicles around the globe, Gibson says FedEx Express operates the largest hybrid commercial fleet in the express transport industry.
On its website, FedEx Express says it runs a worldwide delivery fleet of 43,000 motorised vehicles.