Fleets are driving the use of green vehicles, with business travel proving the most welcoming arena for the take-up of new, more efficient models and alternative technologies, according to research from the Corporate Vehicle Observatory (CVO).

The CVO, which is backed by Arval, carried out its research across 12 different countries and revealed that in the UK a fifth of fleets now include at least one green vehicle.

For the purpose of the study green vehicles are those with a fuel efficient label or an alternative fuel such as LPG.

This trend is even stronger amongst larger companies (1,000+ employees) with over half (55%) having vehicles with fuel efficient labels on the fleet and over 40% of large companies running at least one hybrid.

The research also shows that business approval for ‘green’ vehicles is likely to grow in the future, with 68% of all fleets saying they would encourage a shift to fuel efficient labels such as Blue Motion or Econetic in the next two years.

In addition, 60% intended to include green vehicles within the fleet over the next three years.

“Road travel remains a key area in the government’s aim to meet strict targets in reducing CO2 emissions,” explained Mike Waters, director of market insight at Arval.

“As a result this research is encouraging, highlighting that businesses and their drivers are leading the way in the take up of both new vehicle technologies and alternative fuels.”

However, the CVO research demonstrates that while the less risky, fuel efficient labels will prove the most popular choice over the next three years, fleets are split on the other options such as LPG or natural gas, electric, biofuel and hybrids.