SA's first full EV courier service launches in Gauteng
'I wanted to portray the right brand image and an EV conveys that perfectly. We did research as to possible options and settled on BYD. The company is a rival for Tesla and is available in SA. The Dolphin has a unique appearance, a hi-tech interior and a very good range, more than 400km, on a full charge. Using EVs has made us more efficient all around.'
The BYD Dolphin units used by XPress have been modified for courier use.
'There is plenty of space in the Dolphins as we had them customised. We removed the passenger and rear seats, essentially turning them into little panel vans. Our drivers seem to really enjoy driving the cars. They have a sense of pride that shows in their appearance and the level of courtesy shown to clients.'
XPress also incorporates a proprietary feature called Bring It, enabling customers to send parcels by scanning a QR code on the spot.
'All our drivers are also trained on our proprietary software to accept parcels on the spot via our Bring It service. This allows clients to simply scan a QR code to send a parcel there and then, and to remove unnecessary paperwork and admin, which is pretty unique in SA.'
Staniland said the initial rollout has shown strong potential and the company is planning to expand.
'The rollout has proven this is a viable concept, even if SA is slow to widespread EV adoption. We are in talks to offer the XPress service in Durban, Cape Town and Nelspruit. We are also considering adding BYD Seagulls for intra-city deliveries. But it's still early days for this exciting new business,' he said.
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