Domino's Pizza Invests in Electric Delivery Vehicles, Slashing Running Costs

The Swindon (in South West England) branch of Domino’s Pizza (NYSE: DPZ) has bought two electric vehicles to add to its delivery fleet, in order to aid its attempts to reduce running costs and carbon emissions.

The Renault Twizys are compact, two-seater quadricycles which cost around £7,000 and offer a range of about 60 miles on a three and a half hour charge; perfect for making deliveries.

The Domino’s branch claims that the EVs have already slashed its running costs and reduced its overall carbon emissions and air pollution.

James Swift, the franchise manager of Domino’s in Swindon, has stated: “we are extremely happy with our Twizys as for us they are the perfect runaround for delivering our piping hot pizzas quickly, responsibly and most importantly with minimal running costs,” adding, “they are quite a head-turner too, so it creates a great buzz for us as we like to do things differently.”

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A spokeswoman from Domino’s told BusinessGreen that outlets in Scotland and in Germany are also using Twizys to deliver their pizzas in an environmentally friendly way. “The Twizy is quickly becoming the best delivery vehicle since sliced pizza - so I am sure many of our other franchisees are likely to follow suit in the coming year.”

EV manufacturers are confident that the corporate sector will provide growth to the industry in 2013 as delivery companies, fleet operators, and taxi firms, all switch to EVs in order to slash their running costs.

Renault currently offer three electric Z.E. (zero emissions) vehicles; the Twizy, the Kangoo van, and the Fluence saloon. A small hatchback known as the ZOE will be added to the range later this year.

In a move that Renault claims keeps overall costs down, and guarantees high performance, all of its electric vehicles come without a battery; the battery must be rented from Renault for around £45 per month, and is regularly swapped to ensure it doesn’t deteriorate.

By. Charles Kennedy of Oilprice.com