Commercial fleets to share electrification progress at Fleet & Mobility Live

By Tom Seymour

7 September 2022

Commercial vehicle fleets will share their progress and challenges with transitioning to zero emissions as part of two special seminar sessions at Fleet & Mobility Live on October 11 and 12.

There will be a special focus on the electrification of business critical fleets, with four fleet case studies offering a range of views and advice on their journey towards zero emissions.

Ocado, DPD, Euro Car Parts and Biffa will all share their own progress and challenges as part of the EV Theatre with one session on October 11 and another session running on October 12.

Some of these fleets are further ahead than others and each will be able to share the unique operational challenges around product, routing, charging infrastructure and more.

Registration for Fleet & Mobility Live is open and free for fleet decision makers, including those that work in HR, finance and procurement.

Graham Thomas, Ocado Group fleet operations manager, said his fleet is currently reviewing all of its options to help reduce emissions.

Ocado runs a fleet of trucks and 3.5 tonne vans and these heavier vehicles are both tricky segments of the market to electrify.

Thomas said: “We’re using biomethane as a stepping stone but we’re currently at a stage where we’re trialling and waiting for larger electric vans to become available so we can convert more of the fleet.”

Ocado first added 15 electric refrigerated vans powered by Bedeo in 2019. These vehicles have been delivering groceries into West and South West London. The online supermarket brand has been gradually increasing the number of electric vans on the fleet over the last few years.

The company is currently exploring its options with the Ford E-Transit and Maxus eDeliver 9 and is also looking at how to deploy solar solutions for refrigeration in its remaining diesel fleet.

He added: “We have very bespoke needs as a grocery delivery fleet so our vans need the space to fit our rear loading racks.

“Converting a commercial fleet to electric is quite a complex task involving not just the product but also the infrastructure for charging and range for delivery routing.

“We don’t want to run the risk of investing in the wrong products and technology.”