IKEA Canada is adding 25 charging stations at five of its store locations in Ontario and Quebec.
In 2022, the home furnishing retailer secured funding of CA$300,000 from Natural Resources Canada's Zero Emissions Vehicle Infrastructure Program (ZEVIP) to install 25 EV chargers in Ontario and Quebec. Ikea also invested over CA$305,000 of its own funds to install charging stations at several locations including its stores in Montreal, Boucherville, Quebec City, and Ottawa, as well as at its distribution centre in Beauharnois, Quebec. This investment supports the goal of Ikea to reach 100% zero-emission home deliveries by 2025 and a 50% reduction in co-worker and customer emissions by 2030. Ikea currently has EV charging stations at 14 stores across Canada.
"Through the ZEVIP program, we were able to accelerate our investment in the long-term future of our business, our fulfilment network, and our partnerships with transport service providers which use zero-emission delivery vehicles," says Crystal Rasa, head of fulfilment sourcing, IKEA Canada, adding that the company’s amibition is not only move Ikea forward, but to inspire and drive change its communities and society."
The successful installation of four commercial EV charging stations at the Ikea Ottawa store marked a significant milestone in the retailer's efforts to reduce its climate footprint. With these charging stations, GoBolt, the last-mile delivery partner, was able to begin using two EV delivery trucks for home deliveries in Ottawa. In a similar move, Ikea and another last-mile delivery partner, Metro Supply Chain, installed a mobile EV charging centre at the IKEA Coquitlam, BC store in the Autumn of 2022, enabling the operation of three EV delivery trucks in the region.
UK infrastructure rollout
IKEA has also announced a £4.5m investment in a nationwide UK electric charging infrastructure, which will provide charging points for electric delivery vehicles across the country to enable more emissions-free deliveries. The new infrastructure will source energy entirely through renewable sources.
The retailer aims to reach 100% zero emissions deliveries to customers by 2025. By summer 2023, IKEA plans to achieve 60% zero emission deliveries in the UK and Ireland, demonstrating the significant steps being taken to accelerate moving towards the 2025 goal.
This will be one of the biggest EV charging infrastructure projects for last mile fleets in the UK and will see Ikea install 196 chargers, of which 53 will be rapid, providing full charge on vehicles in under an hour. The chargers will be located at IKEA stores across the country, as well as the new Dartford customer distribution centre due to open in spring 2023, with the first ones fitted and operational in IKEA Cardiff.
Ikmove is fundamental in allowing IKEA to continue expanding the electric vehicle fleets being used to deliver to customers’ homes, with the ambition to reach over 500 by 2025, with the charging points will be used by both Ikea and partner electric vehicles.
This infrastructure is being implemented in addition to the existing customer charging points in Ikea stores. The retailer says customer charging points are available for customers to use during their visit to IKEA. With the introduction of a home delivery infrastructure, Ikea says it is building a complete offer for customers to have IKEA products arrive sustainably to their homes, no matter how they choose to shop.
Jakob Bertilsson, country customer fulfilment manager at Ikea UK & Ireland, said: “Sustainability is at the heart of everything we do at IKEA, and we are always looking for ways to reduce our impact on the planet while supporting our customers to live more sustainable lives at home.
“Investing in this infrastructure of nationwide charging points is a fundamental step in our ambition to reach 100% zero emissions customer deliveries from all Ikea stores and distribution centres by 2025, as well as supporting our ambition to become a climate positive business by 2030.”
To build the nationwide infrastructure, IKEA is partnering with Mer, a European charging company owned by Statkraft, which is Europe’s largest renewable energy producer. Mer will be responsible for the end-to-end implementation and ongoing management and maintenance.
Natasha Fry, head of sales at Mer UK said: “Ikea is an iconic brand with a recognised commitment to sustainability. When they needed future-proof charge points for their zero-emission, last-mile fleet, they wanted to work with a partner who shares these ambitions.
“We look forward to supporting the IKEA team and, importantly, its customers in making sure last-mile deliveries are efficient and emission free.”
