Cleanology takes delivery of Nissan e-NV200 electric vans

Cleanology has taken delivery of a fleet of four new all-electric Nissan e-NV200 vans following a deal signed with the manufacturer in the autumn.

Cleanology CEO and founder Dominic Ponniah says that the electrification of the fleet will reduce emissions and lower its carbon footprint, “significantly improving” its “environmental sustainability credentials”.

He added: “We save over £3,000 a year per vehicle on fuel, there’s no road tax to pay, and there’s no London congestion charge, which saves close to another £5,500 a year per vehicle. That’s a massive £8,500 a year cost reduction per vehicle.

“There are so many advantages in swapping over to a fully electric fleet, from the environmental gains to costs savings, but it’s also about how our clients see us, and they expect us to demonstrate best practice in everything we do.”

Cleanology has managed the change to its mix of Nissan Acenta and Tekna models – which come with 40kWh batteries - without any real issues, and the staff report that the 107hp vehicles are quieter and smoother to drive.

Ponniah said: “We recharge back at base, but also make use of street-side charging points across the city.

“In Westminster and central London there are plenty of charging points, but in the outskirts, while the infrastructure is still developing, many supermarkets provide a good service.”

However, he added that one thing that makes it “unnecessarily complicated” is there are too many different types of charger.

“When it comes to paying for parking, there are only one or two different apps, but when it comes to recharging there are around ten different companies providing the service and we need accounts with all of them,” he said. “If electric vehicles are really going to become the future, this needs to be simplified.”

Nissan was the UK’s biggest supplier of battery electric light commercial vehicles (e-LCVs) in the true fleet market, and the second most popular EV brand overall in 2020. 

The manufacturer sold a combined total of 10,674 electric vehicles (EVs) in the UK during the past 12 months.

The Nissan e-NV200, which is available as both a van and a five or seven-seat people-carrier, secured a 66% market share, making Nissan the biggest supplier of e-LCV last year. Nissan sold 2,448 e-NV200 in 2020 – more than twice the sales of its nearest rival.