SSE increases electric van fleet

SSE is increasing its fleet of fully electric vehicles (EVs) following its commitment to the EV100 initiative.

SSE Renewables and Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) have taken delivery of their first Nissan e-NV200 vans which will serve communities across the country.

The vehicles will be at the frontline of supporting the low carbon assets and infrastructure required to deliver net zero.

Brian McLaren, SSE director of group change, said: “As a major fleet operator across the UK and Ireland, the EV rollout is in line with SSE’s ambition to deliver low carbon infrastructure in a sustainable way and links to our wider business goal of helping accommodate 10 million electric vehicles in Great Britain by 2030.

“The vehicles will work in a wide variety of operational roles and conditions, from maintaining and supporting the electricity network across the south of England and north of Scotland, to the diverse and challenging environments of our Renewables teams on our hydro and onshore wind farm sites across the UK and Ireland.

“I know that our teams are also hugely excited about the new technology and are very proud to be at the frontline of the EV rollout.”

The vehicles will be closely monitored to allow a better understanding of EV-specific factors including: range anxiety for people whose job involves driving all day, the ease of home charging, the availability of rapid charge points, and overall performance in challenging and remote conditions.

In July last year, SSE signed up to the Climate Group’s global EV100 initiative, which aims to garner corporate backing and make EVs ‘the new normal’ by 2030.

The business is currently targeting the switch of over 3,500 vehicles to electric and has so far installed over 100 charge points across 20 of its main sites with plans to continue this across more remote locations as the fleet increases, and the wider group continues to provide national charging infrastructure projects across the UK.