United Parcel Service (UPS) rolled out a delivery service in California specifically for small parcels with a 100% EV fleet recently. They bought 42 electric cars and trucks (ZAP Xebra) from the well-known EV manufacturer ZAP. This is a first for UPS in that they have never used electric vehiclesbefore. It is becoming increasingly difficult for the conventional UPS delivery vans to do small parcel deliveries, and with the added benefit of lower fuel consumption and emissions it seemed the obvious choice. Drivers will now also be monitoring the electricity usage to analyse the cost savings and emission reductions being achieved.

ZAP CEO Stever Schneider said that “This is the missing link for small package deliveries in congested areas. Packages go from the airplanes, to the tractor trailers, to the delivery vans, then to the drop-off nodes. From there the ZAP trucks make the final delivery to the consumer in a zero-emission vehicle that costs less to operate. It’s a perfect example of how green technology can help corporate America’s bottom line.”

UPS will be setting up distribution points where their conventional trucks will transfer their packages to the EV Fleet, which will be responsible for the delivery to the final destination, specifically smaller communities and downtown areas, which the conveniontal trucks are finding harder to deliver to due to their size.