SingPost to trial eco-friendly scooter for mail delivery

Channel NewsAsia 24 Mar 17;

SINGAPORE: Singapore Post (SingPost) and TUMCREATE will soon kick off trials for an eco-friendly mail delivery scooter.

The trial, which runs from Mar 28 to Apr 7, will take place along two delivery routes between SingPost's Ayer Rajah Regional Delivery Base and the National University of Singapore, SingPost said in a media release on Friday (Mar 24).

The three-wheeler has been designed to streamline postal processes and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, SingPost said. The vehicle will use modular batteries to match battery capacity to the route on which it is deployed.

"By changing the battery configuration, the vehicle’s range may be configured to 35 kilometres, which is sufficient for an average mail delivery route – or 70 kilometres, which will satisfy almost all postal delivery trips made," SingPost said.

In addition, the three-wheeler will produce zero local exhaust emissions, SingPost said.

The postal service provider added that the vehicle is equipped with dynamic GPS routing for priority deliveries and optimised delivery routing, fleet monitoring for data collection and management, integrated cameras, as well as on-demand tracking.

The vehicle also features a storage system that could cut a postman's delivery routine by up to 40 minutes. Its detachable, rollable storage box provides 23 per cent more storage space than existing postal scooters.

SingPost currently operates 674 petrol-driven scooters for last-mile postal delivery. About half of these are three-wheelers.

Three postmen will provide feedback on the electric prototype. SingPost is also looking for a manufacturing partner to convert this prototype into a market-ready product, it said.

- CNA/dl