Vertical Markets

Electric vehicle

by Mark Rowe

The facilities management services company Mitie reports a landmark in its electric vehicle (EV) roll-out. The FM firm has taken delivery of its 250th EV. The Nissan e-NV200 van will be based at Heathrow Airport and joins the 200 electric cars and 49 electric vans already in Mitie’s fleet.

Mitie says it has a commitment to switch 20 per cent of its small van and car fleet to electric by the end of 2020. Mitie marked its 100th EV at the end of October. As 400 more vehicles are on order and set for delivery in the first quarter of 2020, Mitie says that it’s well on track to meet its 20pc by 2020 commitment.

On the Heathrow contract – Mitie provides security, engineering services, cleaning, maintenance, landscaping, post room services, reception and waste management – the contractor has 16 other electric cars and vans the company already on site. Mitie says the move to electric there is to support the Heathrow 2.0 Sustainability Strategy which includes a goal to establish an airside ultra-low emissions zone by 2025 and a target to become a zero-carbon airport as quickly as possible.

As the FM firm says, the need for more charge points – on-street residential and rapid chargers – and the lack of availability of larger vans remain key barriers to EV uptake. As signatories of the EV100 commitment, Mitie has pledged to convert its fleet to electric by 2030. However, until Government and local authorities make improvements to the UK’s charge point network and manufacturers improve vehicle availability and model range, these issues remain major blockers, the firm adds.

Andrew Chen, Head of Emissions Strategy, Heathrow Airport, said: “We are proud to be welcoming Mitie’s 250th electric vehicle to Heathrow, which not only marks a significant milestone for one of our biggest suppliers but also helps Team Heathrow to reduce airside emissions and improve local air quality. Heathrow has one of the biggest electric vehicle charging networks in Europe and we are driven to help all of our airside users reduce emissions and improve efficiencies across the airport. We look forward to continuing to work closely with Mitie on their EV program and other sustainability goals.”

And Simon King, Director of Sustainability and EV Strategy at Mitie, said: “As this important milestone shows, our electric vehicle commitment is picking up pace as we rapidly rollout electric vehicles all over Britain, putting 75 new EVs on the roads every month. However, if the UK is going to meet crucial targets to reduce carbon and minimise the effects of climate change, we need more businesses, like Heathrow Airport, as well as government departments and city councils, to join us in the switch to electric vehicles. The first step to achieving this is ensuring an adequate number of charge points, in the places where they are needed most, are installed all over the UK, so that drivers are sure they can charge where and when they need to.”

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