IKEA Group fast-tracks targets for zero emission home deliveries

IKEA Group, one of the first companies to join The Climate Group’s EV100 corporate leadership initiative to accelerate the roll-out of electric transport, will transition to electric vehicles (EVs) for last mile home deliveries in Amsterdam, Los Angeles, New York, Paris and Shanghai by 2020.

“We challenge ourselves and inspire others as we can only achieve the change that’s needed together,” said Jesper Brodin, CEO, IKEA Group. “For us it’s crucial to grow our business in a sustainable way – that’s why we’re speeding up the transition to EV in five inner city areas.”

As well as accelerating action across five key cities, IKEA will:

• Transition all its last mile home deliveries to EV or other zero-emission transport by 2025 (aim of 25% by 2020);
• Provide access to charging stations at IKEA stores, offices and distribution centers in 30 markets by 2020;
• Reduce relative emissions by 50% through co-workers and customers travelling to IKEA by 2030.

Helen Clarkson, CEO, The Climate Group, welcomed the news. “By switching to EVs for home deliveries at this pace, IKEA is setting a strong example for clean transport in city centers, where zero emissions zones will one day become the norm.

She added, “They are enabling their customers to play a key part in accelerating the roll out of electric vehicles overall.”

The news comes from the Global Climate Action Summit in San Francisco, where more and more businesses, cities, states and regions have pledged to transition their fleets to EVs, as part of the ZEV Challenge.

The new commitments include:

• 12 states and regions committing to the Under2 Coalition Zero Emissions Vehicle Challenge, run by The Climate Group: Australian Capital Territory, The Basque Country, Broward County (Florida), Catalonia and Navarra (Spain), Drenthe (Netherlands), Emilia Romagna and Lombardy (Italy), Quebec (Canada), Scotland (UK), Washington and California (USA).  
• 12 cities committing to C40 Green & Healthy Streets (Fossil Fuel Free Streets) Declaration – Birmingham, Greater Manchester, Honolulu, Medellin, Oslo, Oxford, Rotterdam, Santa Monica, Seoul, Tokyo, Warsaw, West Hollywood.  
• 2 businesses newly committing to EV100, run by The Climate Group – Clif Bar & Company and Delta Electronics, bringing the total of EV100 members to 23.

Californian organic food business Clif Bar & Company is committed to electrifying its vehicle fleet by 2030, and installing charging points at all its offices and bakeries, currently located in six different states (California, Ohio, Arkansas, Minnesota, Indiana and Idaho). The company has also been offering its employees financial incentives ($6,500) to purchase EVs and hybrids. More than third of its 1,200 employees – over 450 – have taken up the opportunity so far.  

Delta Electronics, is a global provider of power and thermal management solutions and the first EV100 member from the energy-infrastructure supply side. The company provides power efficient EV chargers and has already installed more than 40 charging stations at its global headquarters in Taipei, its Americas headquarters in California, and its Shanghai administration center, as well as deployed electric shuttles for its employees.

Click here to find out more about EV100 and its members.