Regulation  -  November 5, 2020

U.K. fleet operators urge government to require EV transition by 2030

A group made up of the four biggest fleet operators in the United Kingdom formed a coalition urging the government to commit to 100% electric vehicle sales by 2030.

The U.K. Electric Fleets Coalition, run by the Climate Group, is led by BT and Openreach, Centrica, DPD U.K. and Royal Mail. It is estimated that the coalition collectively operates around 500,000 vehicles.

The full policy paper that the coalition submitted to the U.K. government urged that the country set a 2030 target for 100% of new car and van sales to be fully electric, introduce a mandate to require that vehicle manufacturers annually increase the percentage of EVs they produce, extend grants for electric vehicles and charging points through at least 2022 and invest in public charging infrastructure that is easily accessible to drivers.

“I am really pleased that we are joining this coalition to help accelerate the transition to low carbon, electric fleets across the UK,” Stuart Simpson, CEO of Royal Mail, said in a statement. “Our ‘feet on the street’ network means Royal Mail already has the lowest reported CO2 emissions per parcel amongst major UK delivery companies. But, we need to go further. We want to become a net zero carbon business with a 100% alternative fuel fleet. We want to play a leading role on this agenda. To that end, we are committed to buying more alternative fuel vehicles for our fleet. We will work with this coalition to champion and enable the widespread implementation of charging infrastructure to make that happen in as many locations as possible across the UK.”

The full list of participating members in the coalition includes Anglian Water, BT, Centrica, Dixons Carphone, DPD UK, EDF, E.ON, ENGIE, Fleet Alliance, Foxtons, Heathrow Airport, Hitachi Capital UK, Iberdrola/Scottish Power, Ingka Group (IKEA), LeasePlan, Lime, Mawdsleys, Mitie, Natwest Group, Octopus, Openreach, Orsted, OVO Energy, Royal Mail, Severn Trent, SSE, Tesco, Tusker and Unilever.

Despite transportation being the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.K., oil giants BP and Shell are also in support of a 2030 phase-out date.

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