Domino’s will launch 800 custom-branded 2023 Chevy Bolt electric vehicles at locations across the United States in the coming months.
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Domino’s Pizza will introduce a fleet of 2023 Chevy Bolt electric vehicles, totaling 800 of GM’s electric vehicles, to the United States in the coming months, not only reducing its environmental impact but also attracting new delivery drivers.
The pizza chain’s restaurant has previously set a goal of achieving net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, and CEO Russell Weiner said optimizing pizza delivery is key.
“Domino’s started as a delivery company in 1960, and we go to bed every night and wake up every morning like, ‘How can we get better?'” Weiner told CNBC’s Jim Cramer on “Mad Money” last week. “In this way we can become better; better service for our customers and better for the environment.”
The Chevy Bolt EV will offer the company zero tailpipe emissions and lower average maintenance costs than non-electric vehicles, as well as a reduction in fuel costs, according to Domino’s. The new vehicles, which have a range of 259 miles, will be individually branded with Domino’s logos.
The first 100 vehicles arrived at select franchise and corporate stores across the US in November, with an additional 700 to arrive in the coming months. Domino’s had 6,643 stores in the US as of September 11, 402 of which were corporate locations.
The launch of this fleet of electric vehicles isn’t the first time Domino’s has tried to streamline pizza delivery.
In 2014, the company introduced the DXP Delivery Vehicle, a custom Chevrolet Spark with a built-in warming oven and dedicated compartments for items like sodas.
Domino’s has also been piloting driverless delivery with robotics company Nuro, delivering pizzas using an autonomous on-road vehicle at the chain’s Woodland Heights location in Houston, Texas. Other startups like Refraction AI have been testing autonomous vehicles suitable for pizza delivery.
Domino’s has also tried to go beyond traditional car delivery, introducing an e-bike delivery program in stores in major metropolitan areas like Baltimore and Miami in 2019. It now delivers pizza to 24 international markets via electric bikes and scooters.
Electric vehicles help in the search for new workers
The launch of GM’s new fleet of electric vehicles is expected to help the company in its driver recruitment efforts as well.
“It just allows us to fall back on a different driver pool,” said Weiner. “If you think about today, we’re hiring people with cars, but that’s going to be really competitive with what’s going on.”
There are many people who work in Domino’s stores, or potential workers, who have a driver’s license, and Weiner said, “All they need is a car…it’s a great opportunity for us, at a time when where this market is tight to attract additional workers.”
While some of the Company’s stores require delivery driver applicants to use their own vehicle, some provide a car.
Weiner said the company’s hiring metrics, including applications and new hires per week, are getting back to pre-Covid numbers, but he added: “There are still gaps to be filled and that’s one of the reasons we’re doing things like this, to increase inflow and give you a few more options.”
Speaking on the third-quarter earnings call with analysts on Oct. 13, Weiner said staffing levels remain a constraint, “but my confidence in our ability to solve many of our delivery work challenges ourselves has grown over the past few quarters.”
