National Grid is celebrating having over 1,000 electric vehicles in its UK fleet. The milestone, reached this summer, comes as the company releases its Responsible Business Charter, which reconfirms its commitment to having a 100% electric fleet by 2030 for its light-duty vehicles.
With around half of all vehicles on the road globally being operated by businesses, large corporations like National Grid have a key role to play in the wider transition to electric vehicles (EVs). Currently, National Grid’s fleet is comprised of over 1,070 fully electric company cars and 312 zero-emission commercial vehicles (vans, 4x4s and HGVs) across its UK and US businesses. It is currently on target to reach a 60% electrification of its fleet by the end of the 2025/26 financial year.
National Grid’s Responsible Business Charter was launched by National Grid’s Chief Sustainability Officer, Rhian Kelly on Wednesday 6 September in a keynote address at the Sustainability Live conference in London. The charter identifies where the business can have the most significant impact on society, and also includes commitments to increase the company’s workforce and leadership diversity, reduce its greenhouse gas emissions, boost community volunteering efforts amongst its employees and more.
The milestone for National Grid’s fleet electrification comes following World Electric Vehicle Day, which unites companies, policy makers and thought leaders for a day of activity and announcements to propel the emobility movement globally.
Lorna McAtear, UK Fleet Manager at National Grid said: “The UK’s transition to electric vehicles is a key component in the race to net zero and National Grid’s efforts to transform the country’s energy system mean we play a key role in facilitating this.
“It’s for this reason that we are determined to lead by example in electrifying our own fleet and to act as trailblazers and champions for the wider uptake of EVs amongst the communities we serve, so that we can build a more sustainable future together.”
In recent years National Grid has worked to support EV uptake amongst its workforce by providing charging facilities at their premises and by launching a fully electric zero emission shuttlebus for employees at its site at Warwick Technology Park. The free service, which operates between Leamington Spa town centre, the train station, and National Grid’s site at Warwick Technology Park covers around 50,000km on the route annually, resulting in savings of nearly 30 tonnes of CO2 per year.
This summer National Grid also participated in the EV Rally Capital City Challenge, with its fleet providing four of the 50 vehicles that took part in a 1200+ mile rally across the length of the UK and Ireland. The rally visited five capital cities in five days, using only electric vehicles and public charging points, to showcase the capabilities of electric vehicles and to help a wider audience learn more about the UK’s vehicle charging infrastructure.
Chief Sustainability Officer Rhian Kelly said: “At National Grid, we’re committed to being a responsible business in everything we do, enabling a fair and affordable transition to a clean energy future and reducing our own emissions.
Our commitment to net zero starts with our own operations and decarbonising our electric fleet is crucial ensuring we can make significant strides in reducing our own carbon emissions”
