Wenzel’s the Bakers is reducing fleet costs and lifting overall business sustainability by transitioning to electric vehicles.

Wenzel’s fleet of VW ID.3s have delivered more comfortable driving and ample range, along with significant cost savings

The family business has a near 50-year history in supplying communities across the south of England with baked goods. With over 100 shops, the company has a busy fleet of area managers, charged with overseeing day-to-day operations across its store network.

Wenzel’s has a strong sustainability commitment and approached VWFS Fleet in 2019 to help develop and implement a strategic transition to electric vehicles for its area manager fleet.

Ross Robins, operations director at Wenzel’s, said: “As a business, we were initially apprehensive about taking the step to electric. For example, a lot of our area managers live remotely, so we had to be certain about charging access that would enable them to continue to undertake large daily mileages to visit the stores.”

Following a full fleet analysis, VWFS Fleet was able to alleviate these concerns and demonstrate how the benefits of transitioning to an EV fleet would be tangible to the business.

VWFS Fleet assessed Wenzel’s existing vehicles to understand whether they met the needs of the area managers. Recommendations included switching from vans to cars to better meet fleet needs while gaining from a more comfortable driving experience and a wider range of EV options.

VWFS Fleet began to phase out Wenzel’s diesel and petrol vans and replace them with a combination of electric cars, including ID.3s and other Volkswagen models.

“Initially, we ordered six Volkswagen ID.3s, so the area managers could see how the EVs performed in practice. Since then, we haven’t looked back. Not only do the ID.3s offer more comfortable driving and ample range, with drivers only needing to top up every three to four days, but they’ve also brought significant cost savings,” added Robins.

“For the business, fuel costs have decreased dramatically, as well as Class 1A NI contributions. Additionally, with many of our stores located in and around London, we have also seen a significant reduction in expenses associated with entering low emissions zones. Our area managers have also benefited from reduced expenses, as the EVs’ associated Benefit-in-Kind (BiK) payments are significantly lower.”

Wenzel’s also installed home charge points for all area managers and deployed workplace charging at several of its central stores, so drivers could easily top up when visiting.

Alongside substantial cost savings, the switch to EVs has also enabled Wenzel’s to push ahead with its long-term sustainability agenda.

“From the offset, VWFS Fleet was able to clearly demonstrate the environmental benefits an EV transition would deliver for our company,” said Ross. “We can now take pride in running and maintaining a low-carbon fleet that has a positive effect on the world around us, but without any compromise to our daily fleet needs.”

He added: “Our transition to EVs has been a resounding success. Our daily fleet operational costs have been slashed and our carbon footprint reduced. The area manager fleet drivers are delighted with the switch. I look forward to working with our dedicated account manager, Tara Kitchener, and VWFS Fleet on future projects that will drive even more efficiencies and sustainability benefits for us.”