The Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP) has reinforced its work to help fleets fast-track the take-up of electric vehicles with the launch of a new EV charter and training course.

The association, formed in March from the merger of ACFO and ICFM, says that 2021 will be the year of fleet electrification and it intends to play its part in helping fleets transition to EVs.

This will be reinforced by the new electric vehicle charter and accompanying training course.

The charter supports members through electrification with a helpline and administrative assistance, providing best practice documents and education, and lobbying government on the conditions needed to reach the 2030 cessation of the sale of petrol and diesel cars.

The EV Fleet Manager Training Course lasts one day and will be held for the first time online on 16 March 2021. It covers topics including evaluating your current fleet and assessing the potential to electrify, analysing the cost and carbon benefits of transitioning to electric, developing the infrastructure to support electrification, and how to measure ongoing progress. The cost will be £349 for AFP members and £449 for non-members, and it will be repeated regularly based on demand.

Also, the AFP has launched three core best practice documents for fleets looking to switch to EVs. The first is aimed at employees and is called Myth Busters, designed to explain the benefits of driving an electric car. It is accompanied by EV Policy Deployment Hints and Tips, and EV Policy Wording and Guidance, the latter intended for insertion into individual fleet organisational policies.

Paul Hollick, AFP chair, said: “We believe that 2021 will be the year of fleet electrification and, as the fleet industry’s leading professional body, we fully intend to play our part.

“There has been a lot of work going at the AFP in recent months to produce the charter, the new course, and the new documents – especially from our electric vehicle committee – and these developments should be of considerable practical assistance to fleet managers beginning to transition to EVs in real-world conditions.

“We are placing a great deal of emphasis on the outstanding EV expertise that exists within the AFP and believe that it will attract more fleet managers to join the organisation over the next few months.”

All of these initiatives were launched at a webinar entitled ‘Introducing Electric Vehicles – Upgrading Your Policy and Implementing Your EV Roadmap’,  which was attended by more than 100 delegates late last week.

Hollick added: “The high level of attendance for the webinar shows the level of interest that exists for EVs in the fleet sector. There is genuine enthusiasm and a thirst for knowledge from fleets of all types and sizes.

“Our first EV documents have been concentrating on electric cars but we are now preparing similar initiatives for electric vans as more models start to become available during 2021. We are very fortunate to have both our LCV Committee and our EV, Alternative Fuels and Low Carbon Committee looking into this topic.”

To find out about the fleet charter and the new training course, please contact the AFP Administration Hub on administration@theafp.co.uk. The three new fleet documents can be downloaded at www.theafp.co.uk.