Lyreco, a distributor of workplace products and services, has introduced 17 electric Renault Master E-Tech panel vans to its London operation, which will work out of its Greenford, Tottenham and Dartford distribution depots.

While its London-based vans will not cover a great deal of miles completing delivery routes, they will carry a significant amount of customer orders. With an average order weighing circa 40kg, it was essential for Lyreco that its choice of electric van had a payload of over 1,000kg. The Master E-Tech in Lyreco’s chosen long wheelbase and medium wheelbase formats have a payload of 1,300kg and 1,381kg. 

The vehicles have a range of up to 75 miles on a single charge (WLTP), and in addition to fuel savings, Lyreco also gains financially from the vans being exempt from the Congestion Charge.

With distribution making up 44 per cent of the company’s total carbon footprint emissions and with a direct impact on customers’ carbon emissions, clearly this is a key milestone in Lyreco’s strategy to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. Additionally, in 2019 Lyreco signed up to the Clean Van Commitment, which is a public commitment for fleets to switch to zero tailpipe emission vans in cities by 2028, and the new Master E-Tech vans will provide valuable insight into how Lyreco can transfer its learnings into the other UK territories in which it operates.  

Lyreco will charge its new vans via 7kW charge points that it has recently installed across its London distribution depots. With an 80 per cent charge being achievable in only 4.5 hours, it’s straightforward for Lyreco to keep its vans ‘topped-up’ between deliveries. To ensure its operatives also get the most enjoyment and convenience from its new Master E-Tech fleet, Lyreco has also invested in electric vehicle driver training.

The Master E-Tech order has been managed via ERA Fleet Cost Management, another long-term partner of the Lyreco fleet team, with the vehicles supplied by the fleet sales division of Renault Retail Group.

Richard Taylor, Head of Operations – Supply Chain, Lyreco UK & Ireland, said: “The purchase of Master E-Tech vans sends a clear message to our customers, our colleagues and the wider public, of our green credentials and commitment to sustainability. It means that where range and payload permits, our deliveries in London will be made by 100 per cent electric vehicles that will not contribute to air and noise pollution.

“Electric vans are currently the leading sustainable solution for our future operations and while the technology has been available for a couple of years, introducing any into our fleet before now would have been detrimental to our customer experience – the range and payload were simply not there. Making the transition to EVs had to work in every aspect and the Master E-Tech now ticks all the boxes. While we considered several different vans, it was also reassuring that we would be exploring such an important move into electrification with a brand that was a known quantity to us.”