British Gas has ordered 1,000 new all-electric Vivaro-e vans from Vauxhall – the largest commercial battery electric vehicle order in the UK to date. The Vivaro-e fleet will arrive over the next 12 months and be spread across the British Gas engineer workforce.
Centrica, owner of British Gas, has committed to electrifying its 12,000 strong fleet by 2030. The company has previously also used Nissan e-NV200s but most of its fleet is currently VW Transporters and Caddys powered by diesel engines.
The engineers who receive the new vans will be chosen from volunteers and will be from areas where it is especially important to lower emissions, such as city centres.
Matthew Bateman, Managing Director of British Gas, said: “Our engineers and their vans are part of the local community they serve and it’s important we reduce the emissions of our vans so that we are contributing towards better air quality in their area and the environment. We are committed to the transition to electric vehicles which involves changing our fleet as well as helping consumers and businesses with charge points and infrastructure.”
The Vivaro-e has a 143 mile range and a 136bhp electric motor. Other Vauxhall commercial vehicles will be joining the line up in the next two years.
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