er that the business aims to have an all-electric delivery fleet by the end of 2025 – a goal the Australian arm is also working to hit. Ikea Australia aims to have its fleet composed of 40 per cent EVs by the end of August 2023. The new investment is an important step in that journey, Ikea Australia CEO Mirja Viinanen told Inside Retail, as it deepens the relationship between Ikea and ANC, and will further the reach of its EV fleet. “We need this: we need collaboration, we need ownership from companies as well as those outside the business,” Viinanen said. “We believe this is absolutely something we need to do, and we encourage other companies to do exactly the same, and use their voice and partners to make the change.” It isn’t just good for the planet, Viinanen said, but also puts Ikea more in line with a changing customer, one that expects companies to act with social and environmental factors in mind. “This is obviously what many customers are expecting to see, and if you want to do good business, then you need to do something in line with the environment, because that’s where the customers are [right now],” Viinanen said. “Our customers are there, and they’re expecting retail businesses and companies to be ahead in sustainability topics.” Ikea Australia CEO Mirja Viinanen in one of the business’ new electric tuk tuks. Getting closer to the customer Beyond the types of delivery vehicles it’s using, Ikea is also changing the size of its fleet. Within more densely populated areas, the furniture firm will now deliver packages using electric-powered tuk tuks – one-man vehicles that can hold around 625kgs of stock, and operate with a 100km range.  These vehicles, which launched alongside the opening of the business’ first Plan and Order store in Melbourne, signal that Ikea doesn’t want to create barriers for its customers – instead, it is coming to them.  “As a company, you need to test and try different options — we try to have an entrepreneurial mindset,” Viinanen said. “We’re thinking about making our products more accessible for Australians, and we think these initiatives are a good test to see how we can do that.” Roadblocks need to be removed While Ikea is investing further into its EV fleet, Viinanen knows that many other businesses are not doing the same, and that the Federal Government has more to do in incentivising the take-up of more sustainable business practices.  “We would love to have governments, especially the federal government, to take some action on this,” Viinanen said. “We can see it [being done] across different states, and there are different opportunities there, but the federal government is in charge of the whole country – we believe this is something that is absolutely necessary.” One of the major roadblocks – the difference in price between a traditional diesel-based delivery truck and an EV – has largely been removed with the increase in fuel and oil prices over the past year. ANC CEO Joe Sofra noted that it’s clear that EVs are the future of last-mile delivery, but the industry is still in a nascent state in Australia. “Now is the time for last-mile delivery providers to step up and prioritise electric vehicle fleets,” Sofra said. “In addition to what we already know about the impacts of climate change, the instability that we’ve seen in global oil markets is a further reason for action.  “Our focus is to overcome real and perceived barriers to electric vehicle adoption, and we’ll continue to seek partnerships with like-minded organisations with the capacity to achieve that objective.”