The online store announced on Wednesday that it would commence trials with a new Mercedes 5.5 tonne van, created by Isuzu and Zeroed, that’ll be the first of its kind in the world. It is a simple two pedal operation, and the energy is supplied from two strings of lithium ion phosphate batteries mounted in cassettes under the body.

These batteries are charged overnight for around six hours before the delivery guy does the rounds. And the good news for the environment, but maybe not for the person driving, is that the new Ocado mobile can keep going for around 100 miles. And for the boy/girl racers amongst you, it can do speeds of up to 55 miles per hour.

“One of the things that concerned us was the carbon footprint of our vans,” said a company spokesperson, Bernadette Ahmed. “It is already low – when one of our delivery vans goes out, 40 families don’t have to take their car to the supermarket.The new van will allow us to double the amount of groceries that go out because of a pioneering battery developed for the vans.

“Ocado is built on green principles, so on an ongoing basis we are always looking at making our business greener.”

Indeed, the retailer is considering other proactive schemes, and is currently the only supermarket offering green van delivery drops, allowing customers to pick up their groceries when the van is already in the area. The company was also the first to switch all paper to recycled materials for customer receipts, and it thus far remains the only supermarket in Britain to take back and recycle all of its own biodegradable plastic bags.

Hopefully, provided the pioneering technology holds up, then Ocado wagons may not just be driven by the people at Ocado in the future. The possibilities are endless.