Scooting to a town near you? Electric scooters to deliver the post in Murcia

The Spanish postal service is introducing electric scooters to carry letters and packages in Murcia

Electric scooters already divide opinion throughout the Region of Murcia, but they could soon be delivering your letters and packages. Correos plans to introduce electric scooters with built in carts for its postal workers.

They say the idea is to make deliveries more environmentally friendly and to get the post to customers faster and more reliably. This plan has already received strong criticism from unions, who say it will put postal workers at serious risk. 

Correos has purchased 150 electric scooters that cost just over €1 million and has started to distribute them to postal centres in 50 provinces. The vehicles were manufactured by Mooevo Green SL and are fully approved by the DGT as personal mobility vehicles (VMPs) for goods transport.

Why workers’ unions are opposing the plans

The original rollout plan included 13 scooters for Barcelona, 6 for Madrid, 9 for Murcia, 9 for Álava and 8 for Cádiz, with the rest going to other provinces. But according to Correos, the trial is still in the planning stage, and the specific routes and conditions for their use are still being figured out.

However, unions across Spain are worried that the electric scooters could put postal workers in serious danger. They say the plan is risky and unnecessary, and staff wouldn’t get extra pay for taking on this new hazard.

The unions’ worries are backed by data: accidents involving electric scooters in Spain rose by 23% last year with 396 crashes, 240 injuries and 14 deaths. Since 2020, VMP-related accidents have increased by more than 400%. The unions also mentioned that as the new electric scooters have a cart attached they may be more difficult to control, adding to potential safety issues. The scooters have a top speed of 25kmh.

Early plans suggest that, for Murcia, the postal-delivery scooters will be rolled out in Murcia City, Cartagena, Molina de Segura, Alcantarilla, Cieza and Totana.

Lorca, despite being one of the Region’s largest municipalities and its third city, was not initially included, but the final locations have not been confirmed yet.

The plan was due to begin for the Christmas delivery campaign, but pressure from the unions has put that on hold for now. At the moment, the scooters are still sitting unused in postal centres while discussions continue.

Many residents would agree that electric scooters are becoming more of a nuisance, with everyone from food delivery drivers to teenagers heading to school using them. If we are going to see even more on the streets in the future, additional rules and regulations will need to be enforced.

Images: Correos