Blakemore & Son receives first electric trucks
Blackmore & Sons is known as one of the largest privately-owned family businesses in the retail and food sector and is now starting its electrification journey. The Electric Freightway is part of the Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrator Programme. It is funded by the Department for Transport and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK, it is attempting to lay the foundations for a nationwide charging network for electric trucks. The project was introduced in late 2023 and will see 200 million pounds invested in the transport industry to decarbonise their heavy goods vehicles before it is done.
The company’s current delivery fleet is comprised of 103 articulated vehicles with 178 trailers and 130 rigid HGV vehicles. The new electric trucks come from Volvo Trucks and are FM Electric truck models. The trucks run on a 540kWh battery and three electric motors deliver a total performance capacity of 675bhp and a maximum 185-mile range, which Blackmore estimates will enable them “to directly replace roles that were previously performed by diesel-powered trucks.”
It is currently estimated that 20 per cent of the UK’s transport CO2 emissions come from the heavy goods sector. There are an estimated 300,000 heavy trucks on the roads in the UK, which means that there is some serious work to be done before the sector is electrified, however, given around 18 million tonnes of CO2 produced per year, the effort is likely worth the funds.
“We are thrilled to be at the forefront of the electric vehicle revolution in the convenience retail sector. The addition of these electric HGVs demonstrates our commitment to reducing our environmental impact,” said Caoire Blakemore, Blakemore’s Responsible Business Director, adding: “We believe this is just the beginning of our journey towards becoming a net zero carbon company by 2040 and we are excited to see the positive impact these vehicles will have on our operations and the environment.”
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