A new electric van will be making home deliveries for Sainsbury’s in what is claimed to be a first for a UK supermarket.

The zero-emission van, called Evie, will drop off up to 30 orders a day to customers who have shopped for groceries online as part of a pilot project.

It has an expected range of around 80 miles on a single charge and will be making deliveries across central and east London from Sainsbury’s centre in Bromley-by-Bow, where the van will be charged overnight.

Evie is being put to the test to see if it could be an efficient way of delivering groceries to customers in busy cities.

Clodagh Moriarty, Sainsbury’s Group Chief Digital Officer said: “We’re delighted to welcome Evie to the team and lead the charge in putting the latest electric van technology to test for grocery deliveries.

“We’re always looking at how we can use the latest innovations to best serve our customers and this trial will help us explore how we can deliver Sainsbury’s groceries in a more environmentally-friendly way.”

Last year, the supermarket trialled a fleet of five electric cargo bikes which delivered up to 100 online orders a day across South London.