Major UK and global fleets including Barclays and Bayer have signed up to the Climate Group’s EV100 initiative, pledging to transition over 44,000 vehicles to electric by 2030.

The five new EV100 members have pledged to transition over 44,000 vehicles to electric by 2030

Now celebrating its fifth anniversary, the EV100 programme brings together forward-looking companies committed to accelerating the transition to electric vehicles and sends a powerful signal that the future of transportation is electric.

New joiners include global pharmaceutical and biosciences company Bayer, British-based multinational bank Barclays, international financial services provider Allianz SE, India’s fastest-growing agri-commerce company WayCool and precision instrumentation supplier Spectris Plc.

Myriam Coneim, Barclays’ global sustainability and governance lead, operations, said: “In March 2020 we become one of the first banks to announce an ambition to be net zero by 2050, which includes our operational emissions. To decarbonise our operations, earlier this year we committed to transitioning all of our UK vehicle fleet to electric by 2025 with an additional target of 2030 for our global fleet, using ultra-low emissions vehicles for the latter where electric is not viable. Addressing this viability challenge was key to our decision to join EV100, and we look forward to working together with Climate Group and other members to speed up the transition to electric, particularly in less mature EV markets.”

In addition to electrifying their fleets, WayCool and Spectris Plc have also committed to install charging infrastructure across their estate for use by their staff and customers – further underlining their commitment to electrifying road transport.

Rebecca Dunn, head of sustainability at Spectris, added: “We’re committing to electrifying our 430-strong fleet and rolling out charging infrastructure for our staff and customers. Committing to EV100 now will help us achieve our net zero by 2040 target. We’re looking forward to working with likeminded companies and working with our supply chain and customers to develop their own EV fleets, too.”

Since launching in 2017, EV100 has gone from strength to strength. With these new joiners, membership now stands at 128. In five years, EV100 has grown from 10 founding members to a global network of businesses committed to the growth of electromobility across almost 100 markets worldwide.

Sandra Roling, director of transport, Climate Group, said: “We warmly welcome our five new members who have made the bold commitment to electrify their fleets and deploy charging infrastructure by 2030. It’s amazing to think that in just five years EV100 has grown so rapidly. We will continue to push other businesses, vehicle manufacturers and governments across the world to work with us to ensure the future of road transportation is electric.

“I also want to say a huge congratulations to every single EV100 member as we celebrate five years, for the progress made so far on their journey with us. Over 200,000 EVs are already on the road thanks to EV100 members, and by 2030 over 5.5 million fleet vehicles will be zero emission.”