The call came from Kate Armitage, electric vehicle team manager at EDF Energy, one of the partners in the scheme, at this year’s ACFO Conference and AGM. 

As part of the Plugged-in Fleets Initiative (PIFI), which is funded by the Department for Transport and Transport for London, the EST is undertaking a free bespoke analysis on 100 fleets to help them understand where ultra-low emission vehicles could work for them. 

The initiative is open to fleets in England operating vehicles under 3.5 tonnes and will see the EST team provide:

• A detailed report and analysis with recommendations of how plug-in vehicles could work in a business
• A whole-life cost analysis, comparing a fleet’s existing vehicles with suitable plug-in alternatives
• Infrastructure advice
• A tailored final report.

Twenty fleets have already taken part in the Plugged-in Fleets initiative and with the programme’s extension to a further 100 organisations, Armitage said: ‘The programme is aimed at helping fleets to come to a decision on whether to introduce electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles to their fleets. We are looking for small, medium and large fleets and across all market sectors.

‘We are now recruiting fleets to the programme with reports carried out on a first come first served basis. There will not be 100% electric vehicle fleets; that would be naive. However, the reports make the business case for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles in appropriate fleet applications.’

Further information is available from the EST website at www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/pifi or email pifi@est.org.uk.