TRIESTE – IKEA is launching a project based on electric transport together with Codognotto and Volvo Trucks. The initiative adds to the fleet a 100% electric vehicle dedicated to long-haul operations.
Inter IKEA Group has selected Codognotto as the logistics partner for the project, entrusting the historic company from Treviso with operating a Volvo FH Aero Electric. The vehicle has a gross vehicle weight of up to 44 tonnes and is equipped with a 540 kWh battery, enabling daily distances of up to around 500 kilometres. The truck will be deployed on the Portobuffolé–Piacenza, Piacenza–Corsico and Piacenza–Padova routes, with an expected utilisation of 252 days a year to transport furniture and home furnishing accessories. The routes have been designed and optimised to match the characteristics of electric transport. The aim is to minimise unnecessary stops and empty kilometres, maximising the truck’s overall efficiency and making operations sustainable even over medium-to-long distances.
According to Ewelina Taylor, Global transport manager at Inter IKEA Group, working with Codognotto and Volvo Trucks makes it possible to define a more efficient operating model, capable of reducing idle time, optimising routes and lowering overall costs. This approach delivers direct environmental benefits, such as improved air quality and reduced noise pollution along major road corridors.
From an operational standpoint, Codognotto stressed the need for a pragmatic approach. Matteo Codognotto, the group’s Supply Chain Director, says electrification works if applied on the right routes and supported by genuine collaboration across the entire supply chain. Range remains a constraint, but it can be managed through careful planning and the involvement of partners and customers, building replicable models without sacrificing efficiency.
