Last-mile delivery group ANC’s CEO, Joe Sofra, talks about transitioning his fleet of 1,000 vehicles to electric, and concerns about charging infrastructure, in this Fleet New Group podcast.
“At the moment my point of anxiety isn’t necessarily around being able to source vehicles. My point of anxiety is much more around the supporting infrastructure to charge these vehicles. I’m probably more focused on that at the moment to make sure that we have the supporting infrastructure so we can expand the fleet as fast as we possibly can,” said Sofra in the 25-minute interview.
He said ANC is working with financiers and charging providers to get that infrastructure in place. It’s not as simple as putting chargers into a depot. ANC as a last-mile delivery provider has multiple pick-up points and most of the delivery vehicles are owned by drivers. Public charging points are going to be essential too.
“Our deeper concerns lie around the charging infrastructure in particular and how to solve those issues, which then becomes part of the broader national agenda in relation to creating infrastructure for electrification of vehicles.”
Meanwhile, ANC is pushing ahead on its sustainability journey by adding EV trucks, the latest being a SEA electric pantech truck with a 240-km range. It’s only the fourth EV in the fleet, but Sofra said ANC is aiming for as many as 40 by mid-2023.
“Then from there we really want to be able to accelerate, getting into the hundreds.”
Sofra said their clients — who include big names like IKEA, Bunnings, Williams-Sonoma, and Pet Circle — and the customers they are delivering to are calling for greener solutions.
“I don’t think there’s a client where, a zero emissions, carbon reduction strategy or sustainability strategy is not actively part of our dialogue with them,” said Sofra. “It is increasingly becoming just a core component of partnering with them.”
Sofra pointed out the heavy work light commercial vehicles do compared with passenger vehicles, doing more kilometres and emitting more emissions, and why he felt it was crucial to convert the fleet from traditional to electric.
“For us, we think there’s a really big bang for buck in terms of going green and driving a net zero outcome by leaning harder into the light commercial space versus passenger vehicles.”
The Fleet News Group podcasts are available from major podcast outlets (Spotify and Apple podcasts). Just search for Fleet News Group on those platforms, and subscribe or follow to have them automatically added to your personal podcast library. They are published on the first and third Monday each month. Some of the favourites are our interviews with Ampol’s Angela Miranda, WEX’s Jay Collins and Intelematics’ Max Wang.
