Urban Deliveries Case Studies Combined 2025

Solution area: Electrifying deliveries through smart infrastructure Cities worldwide are pushing for freight electrification and companies are pledging targets to follow suit.47 Urban freight already accounts for around 25% of transport-related CO2 emissions,48 and electrifying delivery vans and trucks could cut these emissions by more than 70% while halving local air pollution. The imperative is clear, but the reality is complex. The challenge lies less in vehicles than in the supporting infrastructure. Unlike diesel fleets, electric vans and trucks rely on grid-intensive charging systems,49 where capacity is often limited, hardware ecosystems are fragmented and cold climates strain batteries.50 Conventional wisdom suggests costly grid reinforcements are unavoidable if fleets are to scale, but some companies are exploring alternatives.51 This promising practice shows how Posten Bring, Norway’s postal and logistics operator, partnered with Hitachi ZeroCarbon to bypass that barrier.52 By treating depots as intelligent energy ecosystems – integrating smart load management, tariff optimization and real-time monitoring – the company electrified its largest sites without major grid upgrades, demonstrating that systemic design can deliver reliable, large-scale freight decarbonization. Promising practice: Posten Bring and Hitachi ZeroCarbon in Norway Snapshot Posten Bring, Norway’s national postal and logistics provider, operates across challenging terrain, harsh winters and high urban delivery demand. Committed to net-zero road emissions by 2040,53 the company faces systemic hurdles in electrifying a diverse fleet, especially in northern regions and grid-constrained cities. In partnership with Hitachi ZeroCarbon, Posten Bring electrified two of its largest depots – Logistikksenter Oslo (LSO) and Østlandsterminalen (OT) – in a pilot now scaled system-wide. By combining smart charging, tariff optimization, real-time vehicle monitoring, hardware-agnostic systems and cold-climate operational strategies, the company expanded charging capacity, enabled two-shift electric truck operations and began piloting shared use with third-party carriers – without requiring major grid upgrades.54 Environment: –Transition all vans and 80% of trucks to fossil-free operation by 2030 –Achieve net-zero road transport emissions by 2040 and be net zero across the group by 205055 Implementation The execution of Posten Bring’s electrification strategy comes from treating its depots as intelligent energy ecosystems rather than simple parking facilities. This can be understood through five integrated components, each designed to work in concert with the others.Regulatory compliance: –Prepare for Oslo’s Zero Emission Freight (ZEF) Ring 2, requiring clean delivery vehicles in expanded city zones from 2027 –Align with Norway’s Climate Action Plan mandating fossil- free heavy-duty vehicle sales from 2030Objectives The initiative supports the following broader goals: