IKEA to start home delivery by electric truck in Tampere

Swedish furniture giant IKEA is going to start testing home delivery by electric truck in early October in Tampere, a city in southwest of Finland.

This is a significant step towards the company's goal of providing zero-emission home delivery in all market areas by 2025, said IKEA in a press release on Tuesday.

Jessica Lehtinen, responsible manager at IKEA Finland, said in the press release that emissions-free home delivery is being tested in five major cities in the world, such as Shanghai and London.

"It is really great to be able to test electric vehicle delivery together with customers in the Tampere area," noted Vesa Haapalahti, responsible manage at IKEA Tampere.

Haapalahti said that products can be delivered to a customer's home in the same day by using an electric vehicle.

The use of electric cars for home transportation is planned to be extended to other parts of Finland. Starting from the autumn this year, renewable diesel will be gradually introduced to the home delivery in the greater Helsinki and Raisio in southwest of Finland. Renewable diesel achieves approximately 90 percent lower emissions than conventional diesel, according to IKEA.

The truck that used in the test is DAF/Emoss model electric truck made by Dutch company Emoss. This is the first time that IKEA use the electric truck for home delivery in the Nordic countries, reported Finnish national broadcaster Yle on Tuesday.