Royal Mail has signed an agreement to purchase 100 Peugeot Partner L2 Electric vans, to be used on delivery rounds.

The Royal Mail purchase is the first major fleet order for Peugeot Partner Electric.

The vans will go into service from December 2017 at delivery offices around the UK, supported by a rollout of charging infrastructure.

The Partner L2 Electric was launched in February and this is the first major fleet order for the van.

Its lithium-ion battery pack is fitted under the load floor, ensuring there is no loss of load space compared with petrol and diesel-powered Partner L2 models. The Partner L2 Electric offers a gross payload of 552kg.

The Partner Electric’s 22.5kWh lithium-ion batteries offer a range of up to 106 miles, measured on the NEDC cycle. The batteries can be re-charged to 80% capacity in 30 minutes from a dedicated rapid charge point. The drive motor also provides regenerative braking when slowing down.

“Our research has shown that electric vans are a good operational fit with our business and we are delighted to be ordering such a large volume to use in our daily operations,” commented Paul Gatti, Royal Mail fleet director.

“Emissions are an important issue for us at Royal Mail and we are continuously looking at new and innovative ways to reduce our carbon footprint and our impact on air quality. Improving the efficiency of our fleet by introducing electric vans is just one example of this.”