Greenpeace Australia Pacific Senior Campaigner Violette Snow talks with Fleet News Group’s podcast host Caroline Falls about the pro-environmental group’s inaugural fleet rankings, and a new report outlining the case for corporate fleets to transition to renewable energy powered electric vehicles.
IKEA was named top green fleet in Australia by Greenpeace in mid March for its progress and commitment to electric cars, vans and trucks. Bank Australia was ranked second and Westpac third in a field of 30 big brand fleets analysed.
Snow said the organisation devised the rankings to highlight commitments to cutting greenhouse gases. It also fits in with its campaigns to bolster use of renewable energy in Australia.
The rankings consider elements like renewable energy, targets for transitioning fleets to electric vehicles, whether the organisation is engaged in positive advocacy for using public transport or a greener fleet, whether it supports staff and customers by providing chargers and how it manages its supply chain to ensure best environmental care.
“IKEA scored 9.5 out of 10 for its commitment to 100 percent electric or zero emissions delivery vehicles by 2025. They also have a commitment to 100 percent renewable electricity by 2025 and zero emissions trucking by 2040,” said Snow, adding, “They also provide free EV charging at most of their Australian stores.”
Transport contributes about 20 percent of Australia’s greenhouse gas emissions which makes it the second or third largest domestic source of climate pollution, said Snow. She said almost half of new vehicles each year are purchased for business and government fleets.
No doubt about it, fleets have an important role to play in decarbonising the economy.
“It quickly became really clear that electric vehicles powered by renewable electricity presented a powerful opportunity,” said Snow.
Meanwhile, Greenpeace also launched a publication concluding that electric vehicles will be the cheaper option for corporate fleets by 2025.
“Corporate fleets are generally used more often and travel longer distances than personal cars, so with falling electric vehicle prices, the more kilometres a vehicle travels, the faster the total cost of ownership begins to outcompete internal combustion engines,” said Snow. “When we compare electric vehicles and internal combustion engines, according to the modelling in our report, the total cost of ownership of an EV will reach price parity for all vehicles travelling at least 15,000 kilometres by 2025.”
And, Snow said, looking at examples from the Electric Vehicle Council, fleet vehicles which travel more than 35,000 kilometres a year could save in the realm of $4,000 to $5,000 a year on petrol alone.
“What we’ve seen is that total cost of ownership picture drastically decreasing. It’s already competitive, particularly for those really high range vehicles.”
When asked what message she wanted to send to fleets, Snow said: “I’d say step up and lead the charge towards renewable powered electric fleets — target 2030 for all your light vehicles. And, I’d say, you have a responsibility and an opportunity as people who are closest to this issue and have the power to put us on track.”
Here’s a link to Greenpeace Australia Pacific’s new report, Charging Corporate Action: The Case for Renewable-Powered Electric Vehicle Fleets
