News: Royal Mail looking to purchase 14,000 pedelecs!

rsscott

Administrator
Staff member
Aug 17, 2006
1,399
196
LONDON, UK - The British Royal Mail wants some 14,000 pedelecs for mail delivery. Royal Mail has about 35,000 Bicycles in daily mail operation, is on the way to overtake Deutsche Post as the largest Pedelec fleet operator. Royal Mail announced the procurement of new equipment for outdoors mail delivery including electrically assisted 2 and 3-wheeled pedal cycles (EAPCs) or equivalent with additional load carrying ability, unpowered cycle trailers, electric trolleys. The equipment will be used on Royal Mail deliveries to carry mail and protect it from theft and the elements. Exact details about the tender can be found on the website under the heading ‘Cycles with Auxiliary Motors’.
Additionally, on 20 April 2007 Royal Mail we will be holding a Pre Information Conference in the UK, where supplier will have the opportunity to find out more about this notice and can ask any questions.
Deutsche Post AG which has about 8,000 mail delivery pedelecs (Yamaha and Heinzmann drive units) in daily service is the largest fleet operator today. Followed by Japanese Mail with about 3,000 pedelecs (Panasonic drive units) as well as Posti Finnland with about 2,000 pedelecs (Yamaha and Panasonic drive units) Small numbers are in use in many other countries like: Italy, France, The Netherlands, Denmark, Austria and Switzerland.

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MaryinScotland

Pedelecer
Dec 14, 2006
153
10
Dumfries, SW Scotland
Wow! This could be a seriously big boost to electric cycling in the UK, just by spreading their use wider and giving more people the chance to see them.

I hope Royal Mail do decent research into the subject and buy bikes suitable for their needs, e.g. with sufficient power for those to be used in hilly areas. I expect they won't be much interested in light weight. Range - I don't know what length an average urban delivery route would be. I expect the rural routes will still be done by vans.

Anyway, a large-scale buyer coming into the industry must ultimately be good for all of us.

Mary
 

flecc

Member
Oct 25, 2006
53,336
30,690
Wow! This could be a seriously big boost to electric cycling in the UK, just by spreading their use wider and giving more people the chance to see them.
Mary
I hope they have one specified expressly for them and clearly distinguished as such, or the use of electric bikes might be popularised in an unexpected way. :D

Why? Because with the nature of postal duties they're not going to be locked at all the many stops and could "vanish" at a very rapid rate in the hands of the locals.

At least with the "half ton" Pashley they currently use, only a masochist would pinch one! :)
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electric.mike

Esteemed Pedelecer
Jan 16, 2007
342
49
grimsby
lets hope they do there home work and as you say flecc and get one built for there needs, this could be the boost we need in this market place,to some degree i think the growing amount of ebikes in grimsby is self perpetuating now, i am not using the how many ebikes do you see thread any more, but i have seen two more in grimsby, one i think is a replacement (for a shopper, sakura or powabyke) the other is another izip.
mike