The electric vehicle (EV) order from Vauxhall is the largest order for a commercial fleet in the UK and adds to the 1,000 EVs purchased from the manufacturer in 2020. The company has also introduced plans to not purchase another internal combustion engine vehicle again.
The company’s commitment to electrifying its fleet by 2025 has been brought forward by five years from its previous commitment and is also ahead of the 2030 deadline set by the UK Government.
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All 3,000 electric vehicles will be on the road by 2022. While engineers can volunteer to use the new vans during the rollout, the company is prioritising high pollution areas to help reduce emissions.
Vauxhall Motors managing director Paul Willcox said: “As with all businesses up and down the country, tradespeople rely on their van as an essential tool of their work and our 300-strong retailer network is crucial in continuing to provide support to carry British business.
“The strength of the quantity of orders for our all-electric van demonstrates that the Vauxhall Vivaro-e can contribute towards the transition towards low-emission vehicles whilst improving air quality.”
British Gas engineers will install all chargers at engineer homes, accelerating EV adoption in the UK for homes and businesses with charger installs and innovative EV tariffs.
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By GlobalDataBritish Gas is currently increasing the EV engineer workforce through training existing engineers, recruiting new engineers, and creating 1,000 new engineering apprenticeships by the end of 2022.
CEO of Centrica, British Gas’ owner, Chris O’Shea said: “Everyone needs to act now to lower carbon emissions and help the UK reach net-zero. We are leading from the front by not only lowering emissions for our customers and our communities, but by lowering our own emissions and increasing the speed at which we do this.
“At the same time, we are helping our customers make the switch to electric and working with motor manufacturers such as Vauxhall on services and solutions for their EV customers such as charge points, infrastructure, and innovative EV tariffs, with cheaper charging at night and free EV miles. We look forward to continuing to work in partnership with the government to create the new jobs our country needs as we all seek to build back greener.”
UK Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said it is encouraging that a well-known British brand is welcoming the largest commercial EV fleet in the UK.
“This is a huge step as we build back greener, lower our carbon footprint, and deliver better air quality up and down the country – with more zero-emission models of cars and vans on the market than ever before. There has never been a better time for drivers and businesses to make the switch,” Shapps said.
According to Bloomberg’s Electric Vehicle Outlook 2020, EVs will hit 10% of global passenger vehicle sales by 2025, rising to 28% in 2030 and 58% in 2040.
