Holkham Estate has decarbonised its fleet with the arrival of 11 electric light commercial vans (eLCVs) and an electric pool car from CBVC Vehicle Management.

The new fleet of Toyota Proace City EV vans will be used for day-to-day maintenance operations by the Holkham Property Company team across the 25,000-acre estate in North Norfolk, close to Wells-next-the-Sea.

Luke Tyce, finance director, at Holkham, said the new eLCV fleet supports the estate’s commitment to reducing its environmental impact.

“Moving to electric vans across the Holkham Property Company fleet is a key project to deliver our ambition to be a carbon-negative estate by 2040. Our carbon audits identified that 55% of Holkham Property Company’s direct emissions came from the diesel fleet so transitioning to electric was an excellent way to decarbonise this business.”

The provision of the new electric vans builds on an existing partnership between Holkham and CBVC.

The business estimates that the switch to eLCVs powered by renewable energy to cover its annual 55,000 miles will save 17.4 tonnes of CO2e each year.

Holkham and CBVC explored a number of electric van options to make sure that they were the right vehicles to meet the fleet’s requirements.

Tyce said: “The Toyota vans were found to be ideal for our maintenance team being quiet, easy to drive and importantly a cost-neutral alternative.”

Mike Manners, managing director at CBVC Vehicle Management, commented: “The Toyota eLCVs are perfectly suited to the estate’s requirements, offering an acceptable range and the ability to charge with renewable electricity. With the minimal maintenance profile of electric vehicles, the ongoing operating cost is very low, particularly in light of what has happened to diesel prices.

“We discussed funding options with Holkham as we believe contract hire is not always the answer. Holkham vans operate within the estate and do a low mileage, so we looked at options that would allow them to be kept beyond a traditional lease period.

“We look forward to monitoring the performance of the fleet and sharing this with our clients.”