Domino’s will roll out 800 custom-branded 2023 Chevy Bolt electric vehicles at locations across the US in the coming months.
domino’s
Domino’s Pizza will launch a fleet of electric cars Chevy Bolt 2023, 800 units GM Total electric vehicles across the US in the coming months, as it looks like it will not only reduce its environmental impact but also attract new delivery drivers.
The pizza chain has previously set a net zero carbon emissions target by 2050, and CEO Russell Weiner said optimizing how pizza is delivered is key.
“Domino’s was founded in 1960 as a delivery company. We went to bed every night and woke up every morning wondering ‘how can we get better?'” says Weiner with CNBC’s Jim Cramer on “Mad Money” last week. “This is how we can be better; better service for our customers and better for the environment.”
According to Domino’s, the Chevy Bolt EV will provide the company with zero exhaust emissions and lower average maintenance costs than non-electric vehicles, as well as lower fuel costs. The new vehicles, with a range of 259 miles, will be custom-branded with Domino’s logos.
The initial 100 vehicles arrived at select franchise and company stores across the US in November, with 700 additional vehicles coming in the coming months. Domino’s has 6,643 stores across the US as of September 11, with 402 of those being corporate locations.
Adopting this fleet of electric vehicles isn’t the first time Domino’s has sought to optimize pizza delivery.
In 2014, the company DXP delivery vehicle introductiona custom-built Chevrolet Spark with a built-in fireplace and special compartments for items such as soft drinks.
Domino’s has also piloted drone delivery with robotics company Nuro, delivering pizza with an on-road autonomous vehicle at the chain’s Woodland Heights location in Houston, Texas. Other startups, such as Refraction AI, have testing autonomous vehicles suitable for pizza delivery.
Domino’s has also sought to go beyond traditional car delivery, launching an e-bike delivery program in 2019 at stores in major metropolitan cities like Baltimore and Miami. It currently delivers pizza by e-bike and scooter in 24 international markets.
Electric vehicles help find new workers
The launch of a new fleet of GM EVs is also expected to help the company in its driver recruitment efforts.
“It just allows us to tap a different set of drivers,” says Weiner. “If you think about it today, what we do is hire people with cars, but that’s becoming really competitive with what’s going on.”
There are many people who work in Domino’s stores or potential workers with a driver’s license, and Weiner says, “all they need is a car… it’s a great way to get them in the car.” I attract more workers at a time when that market is scarce.”
While some company stores require candidates to drive deliveries using their own vehicles, some offer cars.
Weiner said that the company’s hiring metrics including the number of applications and the number of new employees per week are back to pre-Covid numbers, but he added, “there are still gaps to fill and that’s part of why we’re doing things like this to bring in capital flow and offer a few more options.”
During the company’s third-quarter earnings call with analysts on October 13, Weiner said staffing remains a constraint, “but my faith in the ability to deal with many Our delivery challenge has increased over the past few quarters.”
