Domino's goes electric thanks to Kiwi company

Friday, 3 July 2020

Domino's New Zealand GM Cameron Toomey talks about the partnership with Ubco.

Dominos Pizza has teamed up with Kiwi motorbike builder Ubco to electrify the former's delivery fleet.

Ubco is supplying Domino's with its 2x2 electric motorbikes to replace some of its petrol-based solutions.

The pizza maker already has a couple of 2x2s in the fleet and it looks like they have performed well in the real world. Domino's CEO, Cameron Toomey, said the bikes have 'several advantages over cars when it comes to deliveries.

Your pizza could soon be delivered by a Kiwi-built electric scooter.

'They are faster through heavy traffic, parking isn't an issue, they are cheaper to run and more environmentally friendly.'

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By the end of the year, Domino’s wants all of its scooters to be replaced by Ubco 2x2s.

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Ubco boss, Timothy Allen, agreed. He said it's 'pretty satisfying watching the bikes growing in use within the Domino's fleet… Our bikes are reducing Domino's environmental footprint and, at the same time, delivering pizzas faster and safer.”

Domino's delivery fleet averages between 10,000 and 20,000 kilometres each year and Ubco's latest iteration of 2x2 comes with 'Telematic' hardware and connectivity to the Fleet Portal, a cloud-based vehicle management system.

This lets both Domino's and Ubco monitor each bike individually and service them as needed. Being electric, servicing as a whole should be cheaper and less time-intensive than an equivalent internal combustion machine thanks to fewer moving parts.

Toomey told Stuff that 25 Ubco bikes are currently operating across the Domino’s fleet nationwide, with another 25 on the way. By the end of the year, all corporate stores will have replaced their petrol scooters with Ubco machinery.

Timothy Allen told Stuff that Ubco has a global supply chain with all design, engineering and testing done in New Zealand. The electronics and controls are made here while two ‘tier one’ assemblers in China are tapped for the bike and battery.

Range is anywhere between 65 and 120km, depending on carried weight, incline, terrain and ground cover. Finally, the 2x2 can be classified as a moped, so anyone with a car licence can ride it legally.