ENERGY supplier SSE, part of the OVO Energy group, wants the government to make it compulsory for business fleets to decarbonise by 2030.
The company has written to the Department of Transport requesting that businesses should be made to switch all diesel and petrol fleets to electric vehicles.
In his letter to the DfT, Alistair Phillips-Davies, SSE Chief Executive, says:
We believe commitments from Government on corporate fleets will be important in helping to reduce the costs of decarbonising fleets and addressing potential barriers, thereby encouraging other companies to follow the lead set by SSE.
Importantly, making this commitment on corporate fleet decarbonisation ahead of COP26 will demonstrate UK leadership and help encourage similar commitments from other countries.
Given that our fleet operates in some of the most remote locations across Great Britain, including the highlands and islands of Scotland, we believe the full decarbonisation of cars and vans across all corporate fleets in the UK is achievable within a decade
Phillips-Davies acknowledged there remained challenges around charging infrastructure and vehicle availability, but believes Government can accelerate investment by having such a clear deadline for fleets.
He added:
Over half of new vehicles purchased are intended for corporate fleets so their decisions reverberate through the wider car market. If UK businesses were to commit to fully switching their fleets to EVs by 2030 around 1.5 million vehicles could be switched to EVs.
SSE is part of the EV100 initiative of 27 companies which is pledging to electrify its vehicle fleet of 3500 vehicles by 2030.