The Belfast-based business runs 21 vehicles overall and its first electric van – a Nissan eNV200 – hit the streets of Northern Ireland last week. The firm expects to have converted a total of four vehicles – around 20% of its fleet – to electric by the end of this year.

PostalGroup chief executive John Hughes said “We have been doing extensive research and trials over the last couple of years and have found the Nissan eNV200 to be the best compromise between load capacity and battery range.

“These all-electric delivery vehicles will allow us to provide the companies and organisations of Northern Ireland with a local business post and parcel service that will not only save money but will do our bit towards saving the planet.”

Hughes said the company expects to save around £200 per vehicle every month, taking its total annual savings up to nearly £10,000.

PostalSort was established in 2007, with the aim to bring wholesale prices to smaller businesses.

“We give people an envelope with the postage already printed on it and this is then collected by our team every night, consolidated and put into Royal Mail Wholesale – we get various discounts which we share with our clients,” said Hughes.

“By effectively selling people the postage on this free envelope, it gives us a consistent envelope for our processing.”

Last week Royal Mail announced that it has started trialling the use of nine fully electric vans, made by Arrival, in London. It has separately ordered 100 electric vans from Peugeot, which will go into service in December following a successful trial earlier this year.