Major organisations aim to speed up fleet electrification with EVZero

A number of the UK’s leading organisations including Tesco, NatWest Group and The Environment Agency have launched a new action group aimed at accelerating the deployment of electrified fleets.

EVzero, which also lists LeasePlan UK and Department for Environment as its founding members, says it will tackle a critical inch point in charging infrastructure that is hindering successful EV deployments.

The organisation said participants will focus on working together to “overcome this costly and risky challenge, and develop innovative solutions based around collaborative demand in asset availability, asset utilisation, asset finance and asset efficiency.

Jacqueline Carrington-Fallow, design manager at NatWest Group, said: “Developing a suitable charging infrastructure is key to the successful transition to electric vehicles for may organisations’ commercial operations.

“We are pleased to be working with like-minded organisations to address shared problems and come up with solutions that will help to accelerate the decarbonisation and electrification of our fleet vehicles.”

EVZero says through its programme, organisations will:

• Develop a suitable charging infrastructure network to help turn EV strategy into actions.
• Reduce risks and costs of deployment by co-developing innovated solutions built through collaborative demand.
• Gain access to knowledge, technical support and data from peers and market experts to ensure success.
• Overcome critical challenges that are difficult to resolve alone and deliver real progress that supports ESG performance.
• Charging is consistently one of the biggest obstacles facing organisation which are electrifying their fleets.

Vehicle range and availability are becoming less of an issue as more manufacturers are making more EVs, while the distance they can be driven on a single charge is also increasing.

Charging solutions will depend on the make-up of a fleet – whether they operate on a back-to-base basis so will be charged at a depot, or will need to rely on home charging and the public network.

Each has its own strengths and weaknesses, but it is widely acknowledged that a successful future infrastructure will feature a mix of rapid charging at locations such as existing petrol stations, motorway services or purpose-built hubs, destination charging at supermarkets and shopping centres, and on-street kerbside charging.

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