Halewood Artisanal Spirits Plc has taken delivery of 25 Kia e-Niro electric SUVs from Bolton Kia, supporting its work to go electric.

Halewood Artisanal Spirits Plc has taken delivery 25 e-Niro ‘2’ Long Range models this month, and has ordered a further six e-Niro and three of Kia’s new EV6 electric flagship

The business is one of the UK’s leading independent distillers and plans for 90% of its fleet to have transitioned to electric power this month.

The 25 e-Niro ‘2’ Long Range models now on the fleet replace its previous diesel and PHEV vehicles. Introduced earlier this year, the e-Niro ‘2’ Long Range features a 64kWh battery and brings up to a 282-mile WLTP combined range, while the high-power electric motor delivers 204hp.

The company has also now ordered a further six e-Niro and three of Kia’s latest electric car, the EV6, bringing the total number of e-Niro to 31. The EV6 electric cars, which are capable of 10-80% charge in 18 minutes, will be used by the firm’s senior management.

The firm’s fleet manager Iain Wilson said: “Our previous fleet was made up of diesel and plug-in hybrid vehicles, and we’d monitored the EV market for quite some time before taking the plunge. The Kia e-Niro addressed all our concerns about EVs convincingly, thanks to its excellent practicality, range and charging speeds. We know that all of our fleet can cope with the car’s range, especially once we have chargers at all of our UK facilities, which will really make a big difference to the ease of adoption. We’re looking forward to adding to the e-Niro fleet in the near future too, having placed an order for a few Kia EV6.”

To support its switch to electric cars, Halewood is installing workplace chargers at each of its UK facilities, allowing its electric fleet drivers to charge up when on site for work or while attending meetings, or travelling between Halewood’s own locations.

It’s also providing comprehensive driver training, teaching best practice to get the most out of driving efficiently in an EV, in addition to being provided with information about home charging and cheaper energy deals available with off-peak EV tariffs.

And fleets deploying Kia electric and plug-in hybrids are also able to sign up to the Kia Charge service. Launched earlier this year, it offers access to more than 17,500 charge points across the UK, including those from major networks such as bp pulse, Pod Point, Ionity, Source London, ChargePoint, NewMotion, Char-gy and ESB. It also provides access to 260,000 chargers across 28 other European countries, covered by a single account and fully itemised billing.

John Hargreaves, general manager for fleet and remarketing at Kia UK, continued: “This is an excellent example of how seamlessly electric cars can fit into a fleet operation that knows its staff, their journey types and takes concerns out of the equation with charge points at all of its facilities.”

Advising other fleets on the benefits of transitioning, Iain Wilson added: “There are many reasons why fleets should at least look to go electric. There are significant savings to be had including the cost of electricity versus fuel, lower SMR costs and of course significant tax savings for our company car drivers too.”