THE energy company SSE has written to the Department for Transport.
In its letter, SSE says it wants business fleets to decarbonise by 2030 and that this should be government-mandated.
SSE belongs to the Climate Group’s EV100 campaign which wants to bring forward the end date for the sale of petrol and diesel cars and vans to 2030.
Other members of the EV100 campaign include broker funders LeasePlan, Lloyds Banking Group (Lex Autolease), and Ogilvie, along with leasing broker and fleet management company Fleet Alliance.
It follows the business’ call to bring forward the end date for the sale of petrol and diesel cars and vans to 2030, and its own commitment to decarbonise 3,500 vehicles from its own fleet by 2030 through the Climate Group’s EV100 campaign.
The company’s letter to the DfT said:
We believe commitments from Government on corporate fleets will be important in helping to reduce the costs of decarbonising fleets and addressing potential barriers, thereby encouraging other companies to follow the lead set by SSE.
Importantly, making this commitment on corporate fleet decarbonisation ahead of COP26 will demonstrate UK leadership and help encourage similar commitments from other countries.
Given that our fleet operates in some of the most remote locations across Great Britain, including the highlands and islands of Scotland, we believe the full decarbonisation of cars and vans across all corporate fleets in the UK is achievable within a decade.
Alistair Phillips-Davies, chief executive, SSE
Phillips-Davies added that since more than 50% of new vehicles purchased were intended for corporate fleets, their decisions would reverberate through the wider car market, meaning around 1.5 million vehicles could be switched to EVs by 2030.
Automotive and fleet writer for Broker News
