Triton Fleet Alliance EV salsac scheme brings huge drop in CO2 for construction firm

Paul Clarkson, Managing Director, Triton Construction

A West Yorkshire building contractor has voted an EV salary sacrifice car scheme from Fleet Alliance a ‘great success’ after it brought a huge drop in average CO2 emissions per vehicle and opened up wider car ownership for its employees.

Triton Construction (Triton), based in Hightown, Liversedge, West Yorkshire, implemented an EV salary sacrifice scheme with Fleet Alliance Appointed Representative (AR), Michael Hooper, in October 2023 with the aim of cutting its carbon emissions and bringing in electric EVs and plug-in hybrids for its 70 employee-owners.

Thirty months on, and the average CO2 per vehicle has dropped from 117g/km CO2 to just 25g/km, reducing tailpipe emissions by around 78%.

Based on an average annual mileage of 20,000 miles per vehicle, total fleet carbon emissions have now fallen from around 94 tonnes of CO2 to around 20 tonnes per year, a reduction of 74 tonnes of CO2 per annum.

“Our scheme is a great way to offer an electric car at no extra cost to the business, including as it does all service, maintenance and breakdown costs. At the same time, it encourages staff to make the transition to electric cars and, as we have seen from the CO2 figures, helps reduce the corporate carbon footprint while assisting the business in meeting its ESG agenda.”

Fleet Alliance AR Michael Hooper Tweet

The vast majority of employees receive cash allowances, following the closure of the previous company car scheme, and are able to take advantage of the salary sacrifice scheme with access to a wide range of manufacturers.

So far there has been 75% take-up of electric cars from a range of manufacturers including Polestar, Ford, VW, BMW, Volvo, Toyota. Plug-in hybrids have come from Jaecoo and VW.

Early Termination Insurance was key

Employees have been encouraged to participate in the scheme by the low rates of Benefit-in-Kind taxation and zero emissions and have been given peace of mind by early termination insurance (ETI) which is built into the monthly lease rates, because of the transitory nature of the construction industry. This originally helped persuade Paul Clarkson to look at implementing the Fleet Alliance scheme in 2023 as he found early termination a stumbling block in initial discussions with employees. At the time he said: “By building ETI into the monthly rates, we’ve been able to offer employees peace of mind that, if they leave the business, they will not be left with a hefty bill for the remainder of the lease.”

A fit with ESG

Clarkson said the resultant reduction in CO2 emissions fitted in perfectly with the company’s ESG (Environmental Social Governance) ambitions and its Net Zero objectives.

“The reduction in our average CO2 emissions per vehicle is great news. And, as well as tackling tailpipe emissions, we are installing new Electric VRV air conditioning throughout the offices this summer and PV on the roof and low voltage lighting replacements throughout to help us move towards a Net Zero carbon environment,” he said.

The charging package

Another key feature of Triton’s switch to electric has been the installation of EV chargers for employees to use while in work, with seven in the head office car park and a further four at the Northwest regional office in Birchwood, Warrington.

The company also provides electric fuel cards and offers an interest-free loan for the installation of home charges for all employees.

Managed by cloud, chosen by app

The Triton fleet is managed through Fleet Alliance’s proprietary cloud-based fleet management and reporting platform, e-Fleet, which helps manage every aspect of the fleet in real time, regardless of funder or fleet provider.

Drivers can research, compare and order their next vehicle directly from an associated app, and can source vehicles specific to their current grade or salary bracket while checking specification, Benefit-in-Kind and whole life cost. e-Fleet, provides an overview of EVs in the marketplace in addition to indicative costings.

e-Fleet also provides convenient and accurate mileage recording to allow fleet managers to closely monitor accumulating mileages and produce predictive mileage reports for all vehicles.

“We have found e-Fleet to be an efficient, easy-to use platform that I would not have any reservations about recommending to others,” added Paul Clarkson.