A new online training course is being introduced by the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP) to help businesses transition to electric vehicles.

The AFP’s training explores how to evaluate your fleet’s potential to electrify, analysing the cost and eco benefits of switching, and managing the transition

Believed to be the first training course designed to help businesses make the switch in a structured and informed fashion, the course lasts four hours and will be held for the first time at 10am on 16 March 2021.

The ‘Making the Switch to EVs’ training has been created by a team led by the AFP’s Jon Burdekin, a fleet consultant with more than 30 years of experience in the sector with companies such as Alphabet and GE Capital Fleet Services who has developed a specialist interest in EVs.

There are five modules, starting with a market overview examining the current upsurge in interest in EVs, progressing through how to evaluate your fleet’s potential to electrify, analysing the cost and environmental benefits of switching to EVs, managing the real world transition and finally, overseeing ongoing EV operations in a business-as-usual environment.

Paul Hollick, chair at the AFP, said: “The content taps into experience from right across the AFP and, we are sure, will help anyone who is planning on adding EVs to their fleet in the near future which means, in our experience, just about everyone.

“We’ve priced the course to make it highly accessible and we’re also aiming to make it extremely interactive, with Q&A sessions and other online means of communication to ensure that everyone attending can derive the maximum benefit.

“We’re expecting interest to be high and are also planning to repeat the course regularly over the whole of 2021. This is an area where it seems certain that demand for fleet expertise will grow very quickly in the near future.”

The cost is £225 for AFP and ICFM members and £295 for non-members.