Vattenfall is to provide charging infrastructure for Instabox’s fleet in Europe, supporting the last-mile delivery firm’s work to go electric.  

Instabox’s collaboration with Vattenfall will deliver fully managed EV charging facilities at its delivery hubs in Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands

Instabox delivers packages for a large number of e-commerce companies and its international collaboration with Vattenfall will deliver fully managed EV charging facilities at its delivery hubs in Sweden, Denmark and the Netherlands. 

The deal will draw on Vattenfall’s Power-as-a-Service solution, launched in Europe in the last year and removing the need for businesses to own and maintain electrical infrastructure. 

Vattenfall will operate approximately 400 charge points on Instabox’s terminals in the three countries by the end of 2022. Instabox already has almost 200 chargers in operation and another 200 are planned to be deployed during 2022. The new chargers will have a 22kW output per socket and will feature dynamic load balancing to give as much power to the charging system as possible.  

Maria Lindberg, head of electrified heavy transport at Vattenfall Network Solutions, said the tie-up would provide Instabox with simple, risk-free, cost-effective solutions.   

“Vattenfall is responsible for the entire investment for the charging infrastructure which we own and operate. This means that Instabox can focus on their core business of delivering parcels, while we support their switch to electric vehicles.”   

Leilei Tong, head of sustainability at Instabox, added that the outsourcing solution was integral to Instabox’s work on sustainability.  

“Electrification of our vehicle fleet is an important part of our sustainability strategy and long term we would like our entire fleet to be electrified. The framework agreement with Vattenfall and the company’s Power-as-a-Service solution means that we avoid high investment costs to enable the transition to fossil-free and feel secure in having a partner with the electric power expertise required to install and operate charging infrastructure for a large fleet of electric vehicles.” 

It’s a model that’s already been tried and tested in other European countries. Same-day delivery company Red je Pakketje has partnered with Vattenfall Network Solutions for its EV charging setups at multiple locations in the Netherlands.  

Vattenfall has also recently released a new white paper, on ‘Delivering power for electric vehicle charging hub’, as a guide for last-mile logistics companies. The guide outlines the processes, considerations, challenges and benefits of switching to a battery-powered fleet, and offers essential insights for last-mile logistics companies who are looking to stay competitive while decarbonising their practices.  

To access the Vattenfall white paper on EV charging hubs, click here.