Tesco deploys 2,000th electric delivery van
Tesco has deployed the 2,000th electric van for its home delivery service. The British supermarket chain has now doubled its electric fleet in less than a year. More than 30% of its delivery vans are now electric. The entire fleet is to be fully electrified by the end of 2030.
Image: Tesco
Tesco introduced its first electric delivery van in the Greater London area in 2020. The entire UK home delivery fleet is made up of 6,000 vans, according to the company’s latest sustainability report, of which 1,249 are electric vans, representing 21 per cent of the fleet. Now that the grocery giant has hit the marker of 2,000 battery-electric vehicles, this accounts for just over a third of the entire fleet. Tesco itself states this figure represents more than 30 per cent.
The milestone vehicle was delivered to the Tesco supermarket in Hemsworth, West Yorkshire, which already operates six delivery vans for its home delivery service. Tesco has not specified the model, but the accompanying image shows a Maxus eDeliver 9 — a vehicle that plays a significant role in Tesco’s fleet.
From 720 to 2,000 electric transporters in 1.5 Years
The ramp-up has accelerated significantly of late. As of March 2025, only 720 electric delivery vans were in operation. Tesco deployed the 1,000th in early October 2025 — which went to the Cardiff Extra Store in Wales, where nearly 5,000 orders are delivered per week.
For spring 2026, Tesco initially announced a fleet size of 1,250 all-electric transporters. This interim target was met with near-perfect precision: in the sustainability report for the 2025/26 financial year, the company lists 1,249 electric home delivery vans in the UK, with 547 of these added in the past financial year alone. Since then, the fleet has grown by a further 750 vehicles to reach 2,000 in just a few months.
Around 750 Maxus eDeliver 9 on order
In autumn 2025, Tesco placed a major order with Harris Maxus UK for 750 Maxus eDeliver 9 — the largest single order of electric vehicles for the importer at that time. Deliveries were scheduled to begin in February 2026.
The order quantity almost exactly matches the increase from 1,249 to 2,000 electric vehicles. However, Tesco’s current statement does not clarify whether the 750 transporters have since been fully delivered or what specific share they represent among the new vehicles.
Regarding the configuration of the 750 Maxus transporters, it was stated last year that Tesco opted for the chassis-cab variant of the eDeliver 9 with refrigeration units from Thermo King and GAH. The vehicles feature a 150 kW electric motor and a 100-kWh battery. Maxus specifies a range of up to 352 kilometres. With a maximum DC charging power of 120 kW, the battery can be charged to 80 per cent in 45 minutes. The permissible gross weight is 4.25 tonnes, with a payload of up to 1.9 tonnes.
The 2,000th electric transporter is also an eDeliver 9 in this configuration. It is possible that this unit comes from the bulk order, though Tesco has not confirmed this.
Fully electric by end of 2030
“The arrival of our 2,000th electric home delivery van at Hemsworth is another important milestone in our journey towards a fully electric home delivery fleet across the UK by 2030,” says Nick Potter, Transport Distribution Director at Tesco. According to the company’s calculations, the electrification of its home delivery fleet is equivalent to removing around 22,000 internal combustion engine cars from UK roads each year.
Despite the recent significant acceleration of its electrification plans, the supermarket chain still faces a major challenge: within just over four years, the remaining nearly 70 per cent of the fleet must be converted.