From today, Tuesday 16 May, Ikea Australia are running a 3-month trial of parcel deliveries in Sydney using two electric tuk tuks within a 10km radius of IKEA Tempe.
The trial marks a significant step towards the IKEA global ambition to provide all its customers with zero-emission deliveries by 2025 and as an Australian first, it will mark the first time Aussies will see electric tuk tuks driving on Australian roads.
The electric tuk tuks can hold up to 500kg and will be delivering smaller home furnishing products, like IKEA’s market hall range, in addition to compact furniture items under 40kg, such as chairs and coffee tables.
The three-wheeled tuk tuks are both powered by a 9kWh swappable battery and are fittingly named Tük-se and Tack-se, with ‘tack’ meaning ‘thanks’ in Swedish.
This isn’t the first venture into zero-emissions for the Sweedish-born IKEA, with electric rickshaws in India, cargo bikes in Madrid, solar bikes in London, barges down the Seine in Paris, and now electric tuk tuks in Australia.
The introduction of electric tuk tuks in Australia presents a unique opportunity to reduce traffic emissions and air pollution while cutting back on the number of vans and trucks on busy city streets.
The trial is facilitated in partnership with IKEA Australia’s transport service provider ANC Delivers.
The coverage map is actually really impressive for a trial, with the suburbs included in the trial stretching from Sydney airport to the beaches of the eastern suburbs including Bondi and Vaucluse, to Ashfield in the inner west and Mortdale in the southwest.