Toll Group has partnered with Asahi Beverages (Asahi) to deploy a new fleet of electric rigid trucks for metropolitan beverage distribution in Perth.
This marks the largest route-to-market fleet in a single location within Australia.
Operating from Asahi’s Forrestfield Distribution Centre, five Volvo FE electric rigids will complete over 36,000 deliveries per year, transporting kegs and packaged beer, liquor and non-alcoholic beverages to bottle shops and licensed venues across the city.
Each truck features a 12-pallet tautliner body with eye-catching livery featuring some of Australia’s most iconic beer brands, including Carlton Dry, Victoria Bitter and Balter.
The joint investment includes three dedicated dual-port 60 kW DC charging stations installed at Asahi’s Forrestfield site. Capable of operating up to 270 kms on a single charge, the electric fleet will replace diesel-powered trucks and is expected to collectively abate up to 40 tonnes of CO₂ emissions annually – the equivalent of taking more than 50 average family cars off the road each year.
Toll Group president, retail and consumer Nick Vrckovski says this milestone builds on their longstanding partnership with Asahi and represents the next step in their shared decarbonisation journey.
“By deploying electric trucks across Perth’s high-volume metro network, we’re showing how lower-emissions transport can be achieved at scale, without compromising service reliability, safety or customer needs,” he says.
Asahi Beverages CEO Amanda Sellers says using electric trucks to transport their beer in Perth marks a significant milestone in Asahi’s efforts to reduce emissions.
“Thanks to our partnership with Toll, these electric trucks will safely deliver our beer just like a regular diesel truck,” she says.
“This investment makes commercial sense for our business and is a big step towards creating sustainable and reliable supply chains with our customers and partners.”
This deployment forms part of Toll’s broader $67 million investment in battery electric heavy vehicles and charging infrastructure, co-funded by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) through its ‘Driving the Nation’ program.
In recent months, Toll has launched electric rigids and prime movers with major grocery and beverage customers nationwide, creating the largest third-party deployment of battery electric heavy vehicles in Australia and generating data to help accelerate the sector’s transition.
Insights from this initiative will support broader industry efforts to reduce freight emissions across Australia, particularly in hospitality and beverage distribution, where frequent, time-sensitive and heavy payload deliveries are central to daily operations.