Electrifying transport and powering the journey to a sustainable future
Success story: Electricity North West
60% OF COMPANY CAR USERS NOW HAVE OR HAVE ORDERED AN ELECTRIC OR PLUG-IN HYBRID VEHICLE
75% REDUCTION IN GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS BETWEEN APRIL 2021 AND MARCH 2022
25% MORE EMPLOYEES NOW USE THE CYCLE TO WORK SCHEME
The decarbonisation of the transport sector is a critical element on our journey to net zero. We started our transition to electric vehicles (EVs) in 2018 with the introduction of a number of Nissan Leaf pool cars. This was followed by the launch of our EV strategy in 2019 and our sustainable transport policy in 2020.
Our aim is to replace our fleet vehicles with lower emission alternatives and to support and enable our colleagues to transition to EVs and sustainable transport.
In 2020 we increased our range of company vehicles from just one EV model to include a variety of EVs and hybrids. We offer enhanced car allowances to company car users – up to 43% for a full battery EV and 30% for a plug-in hybrid vehicle. 60% of our company car users now have or have ordered an EV or plug-in hybrid.
Colleagues who do not have a company car can purchase an EV via an affinity scheme run by our car supplier. We have installed 120 charge points across our offices and depots for colleagues and visitors. We offer interest free loans for the purchase of a home charger. We have also provided EV charging in seven accessible parking spaces. We offer interest-free loans for all colleagues to buy season tickets for public transport. We have enhanced our salary sacrifice cycle to work scheme by removing the £1,000 purchase cap to encourage the take-up of electric bikes. Nearly 100 people currently use our ‘cycle to work’ scheme, an increase of 25% since we lifted the £1000 limit.
“Since implementing our sustainable travel policy, we’ve seen a massive uptake of electric vehicles and employees taking advantage of our cycle to work scheme. There’s an ever-increasing appetite among our employees to move to electric vehicles – 92% of those due to renew their company vehicle in 2022 are considering making the switch.”
Jonny Sadler, Strategic Decarbonisation Manager, Electricity North West