THE consumer media and entertainment company, Sky, has taken the first fully electric vehicles onto its fleet.
Eleven Renault Kangoo Z.E. vans, with a range up to 143 miles, have joined the Sky fleet.
The new Kangoo Z.E. vans will be based primarily at Sky’s west London HQ to support its local sites, with additional journeys to the company’s Chilworth technology centre within the University of Southampton Science Park.
Several will also be deployed at Sky’s Scotland sites in Livingston, Dunfermline and Uddingston. All of them will be used by Sky’s facilities teams for an array of duties spanning cleaning to decorating and catering to mail distribution.
The new electric vans have been funded by the UK’s biggest leasing company, Lex Autolease, on a 48 month/60,000 mile fully maintained business lease.
Sky is a member of EV100, a global initiative bringing together companies committed to switching their fleets to electric vehicles and installing charging infrastructure for employees and customers by 2030.
Did You Know?
Company van tax on zero emission vans will be reduced to 0% from April 2021. Drivers will also avoid free fuel tax, too.
The Association of Fleet Professionals says greater communication of this benefit would help more fleets choose electric vans.
Sky plans to transition its fleet of 5,700 vehicles to electric by 2030 as part of the EV100 commitment.
It recently took delivery of 151 Ford Transit Custom PHEV vehicles as part of the transition to fully electric vans.
Sky is also a Principal Partner & Media Partner for the COP26 climate change summit set to take place in Glasgow this November.
Oliver Wanklyn, Senior Fleet Operations Manager, Supply Chain Operations at Sky, said:
“These Renault Kangoo Z.E. vans take us another step closer towards our commitment to be net zero carbon by 2030. We’re very excited to introduce them and see them out on the road. With the unique livery that details their 100 per cent electric power they’ll be highly visible to the public, helping us to drive awareness of Sky Zero and importantly, inspiring others to #GoZero with Sky.”
To support the running of electric vehicles, Sky’s HQ now has 95 chargers installed on site. Using a 7kW wallbox charger, the Renault Kangoo Z.E can be fully charged from empty in six hours.
Vincent Tourette, Managing Director, Groupe Renault UK, added:
“Renault has over a decade’s experience of 100 per cent electric commercial vehicles and we are delighted that our pioneering approach has influenced a company as forward-thinking as Sky to not only choose our vehicles, but utilise them for such an important role in determining the future direction of its fleet.”