Mitie meets 20% EV fleet target three months early

Mitie has delivered its 750th electric vehicle (EV), taking it past its 20% by 2020 target three months ahead of schedule.

The facilities management company reached its target just 15 months after introducing its first EV.

On average, Mitie is now adding 75 new electric cars and vans to its fleet every month.

With Mitie’s fleet accounting for around 93% of its total carbon emissions, the company said reaching this milestone is an important step towards Mitie’s wider Plan Zero commitment to produce net zero carbon emissions by 2025.

A key part of Plan Zero is Mitie’s pledge to switch its entire fleet of around 5,500 cars and vans to zero emission vehicles by 2025.

Simon King, Mitie director of sustainability and social value, said: “I’m incredibly proud that we’ve delivered on our ambitious commitment to switch 20% of our cars and small vans to EV, three months ahead of schedule.

“But this is just the first leg of our journey.

“We’re committed to going further and faster, having pledged to have a zero-emission fleet by 2025.

“With such a rapid electric vehicle rollout, we’ve overcome numerous challenges by creating and implementing new solutions along the way. Through our Plan Zero fleet transition service, we’re taking our commitment to sustainability one step further by sharing our experiences and expertise with others.”

The EV strategy has also focused on creating charging infrastructure for Mitie drivers.

Where possible, every Mitie driver has had a charge point installed at their home and chargers are now in place at Mitie’s key office locations and some customer sites too.

In total, Mitie has installed over 600 chargers throughout the UK.

Charging is still a challenge

However, charging remains a significant barrier, with a recent survey of Mitie’s EV drivers finding that it is one of the biggest difficulties they face when switching.

Around half (48%) of Mitie’s EV drivers highlighted that issues with public charging, such as a lack of charge points in areas where there’s no off-street parking and problems finding rapid chargers, are their biggest concern.

Mitie launched its new Plan Zero Fleet Transition Service in July this year to help other businesses wanting to switch their fleets to EV.

The end-to-end solution encompasses all stages of EV transition, from vehicle choice to charging infrastructure, through to travel policies and maintenance.