Facilities management company Mitie has achieved its target to convert 30% of its fleet to zero emission electric vehicles (EV) three months ahead of schedule. The original target was March 2022. As a result, the business has increased its target to have 35% of its fleet electric in the same timeframe.
Mitie now has a range of electric cars, vans, and even a gritter, taking its total – as of the end of 2021 – to more than 2,000 EVs, consisting of 15 different models. The vehicles are based throughout the UK, from the Scottish Highlands and Islands down to the Cornish coast, as well as EVs working on Mitie’s contracts supporting the UK’s Overseas Territories, including Ascension Island. In addition, Mitie has invested in the UK’s EV charging infrastructure, installing thousands of charge points for a broad range of its customers, as well as at employees’ homes.
Indeed, the transition to a fully electric fleet is a central component of Mitie’s Plan Zero commitment to eliminate carbon emissions from its power and transport. According to Mitie, its current fleet of EVs reduces the company’s annual CO2 emissions by around 10,000 tonnes. The business also has a detailed timeline to switch the rest of its vehicles to zero emission by 2025.
In addition, the Mitie Fleet Team has put a series of measures in place to reduce the emissions of its existing petrol and diesel vehicles, such as a Telematics Driver Behaviour system that has reduced diesel consumption by 75,000 litres and saved 19.5 tonnes of CO2 in just one year.
“Switching 30% of our fleet to electric by the end of March 2022 was already an ambitious target, so to have hit this milestone three months ahead of schedule is an incredible achievement and testament to the hard work of the Mitie Fleet Team,” said Peter Dickinson, Chief of Staff at Mitie.
“Pushing ourselves to go further, faster, while bringing others along with us on our journey to net zero, is a hallmark of our Plan Zero commitment. By creating the UK’s largest fleet of electric vehicles in just three years, we’re dedicated to sharing our first-hand expertise and learnings with our customers to help decarbonise Britain.”
Mitie is using its experience driving a large-scale rollout of electric vehicles to support more businesses in transitioning to zero emission fleets. This expertise is the basis of its EV transition service, helping customers design and manage every aspect of their own switch to electric.
In April last year, Mitie ordered 655 Vivaro-e vans from Vauxhall. The first of the order represented the 1,000th electric vehicle in the company’s fleet. The facilities management company is also part of the Climate Group’s EV100 initiative, which it joined in 2019.
In addition, in November 2021 it expanded its EV charging infrastructure capabilities with the acquisition of Rock Power Connections Limited. Building on its existing Engineering and Green Projects expertise, the addition of Rock Power will enable Mitie to deliver new high voltage electricity connections and the renewal of electrical assets up to 132kV, supporting the installation of rapid EV charge points.
