British Gas has announced that it has ordered 1,000 new all-electric Vivaro-e vans from Vauxhall – the largest commercial battery-electric vehicle (BEV) order in the UK to date.
The BEVs will arrive over the next 12 months and be rolled out nationwide across the British Gas engineer workforce.
Centrica, owner of British Gas, has committed to electrifying its 12,000-strong fleet by 2030 and will be making further orders with Vauxhall for EVs as they become available.
The engineers who receive the new vans will be chosen from volunteers but also targeting specific areas to lower emissions and where a van already needs replacing.
The British Gas engineers will install the chargers at engineer homes. The company is currently up-skilling engineers in EV charging and is accelerating EV adoption for homes and businesses with charger installs and EV tariffs.
Matthew Bateman, managing director of British Gas, said: “Our engineers and their vans are part of the local community they serve and it’s important we reduce the emissions of our vans so that we are contributing towards better air quality in their area and the environment.
“We are committed to the transition to electric vehicles, which involves changing our fleet as well as helping consumers and businesses with charge points and infrastructure.
“We chose to work with Vauxhall as they were able to give us a large number of high-quality and low emission vans to help us effectively serve our customers – and they will also work with us on future EV solutions.
“Transport is a key area where we can improve carbon emissions and is an important part of our strategy to meet our net zero targets.”
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https://www.cittimagazine.co.uk/royal-mail-to-trial-levcs-new-hybrid-electric-van/
