The winners of the 2022 GREENFLEET Awards demonstrate the pioneering work and efforts of those decarbonising the fleet and transport sector.
The 2022 GREENFLEET Awards, sponsored by the Algorithm People, took place on 8 December at the British Motor Museum in Warwick. Amongst the winners were pioneering fleet operators that have risen to the environmental challenge, as well as the companies that help them. There was individual recognition too, with fleet manager awards, together with the coveted EV and AFV Champions. For the second year, GREENFLEET also announced its Vehicle of the Year award. The 2022 winner was Ford Pro E-Transit, which is now the UK’s best-selling commercial vehicle and has a range of up to 197 miles and a payload of up to 1,711kg.
The awards were presented by comedian Gary Delaney after a networking drinks reception, sponosred by Harris Maxus, and a three course dinner.
Environmental fleet management
Nottingham City Council scooped the Public Sector Commercial Fleet of the Year award, Sponsored by Fleete. Since 2016, the council has pushed the boundaries of what is possible with a 475-strong municipal fleet containing multiple specialist vehicles. The council now has 243 electric vehicles, including an electric minibus, sweeper, cage tipper and OEM RCV. The savings have been significant – £921,000 and 1,162t CO2 p/a – and an expected £9.8m and 12,470t CO2 over their lifetime. The council has also invested in other innovations, including the UK’s first publicly-funded EV-only vehicle maintenance workshop, 40 vehicle-to-grid charge points, solar panels on depot roofs and a 500kw battery storage solution. The Private Sector Commercial Fleet of the Year award, sponsored by The Algorithm People, went to OVO Energy for significantly growing its zero emission fleet. In 2018, OVO had 46 electric vans on its fleet, alongside its first electric var. In four short years, the company is forecasted to exit 2022 with over 630 electric vans and over 60 electric cars. This means 66 per cent of the total fleet will be EVs, and 65 per cent of which will be electric vans. Overall, OVO Energy defleeted over 710 ICE vans in 2022. OVO also uses fully sustainable wraps that can be recycled at end of life and repurposes the racking units from older vans. The Public & Charity Sector Car Fleet of the Year, Sponsored by AssetWorks, went to environmental charity Changeworks for maintaining the growth of its fleet while simultaneously decreasing its total emissions from 41t CO2e to 28t CO2e, saving 13t of CO2e in a year. The fleet has 25 vehicles, including hybrid electric vehicles, battery electric vehicles and ebikes. Through a partnership with Connected Kerb, Changeworks has doubled the number of charge points from six to 13, resulting in the Edinburgh head office fleet now being entirely electric. Changeworks has also begun the roll out of home charge points for remote workers. Despite the lengthy lead times, Changeworks increased the number of BEVs in their fleet from 15 per cent to 52 per cent, bridging the gap by hiring cars from Electric Zoo and continuing a close relationship with leasing company Ogilvie. This has seen average fleet emissions drop from 82g/km to 46g/km per vehicle.
Mitie was awarded the Private Sector Car Fleet of the Year accolade, sponsored by The AA, for consistently exceeding its emission-reduction targets. Mitie’s fleet currently comprises of 6,994 vehicles, of which 2,643 are electric, meaning Mitie has a 38 per cent zero-carbon electric vehicle (EV) fleet, one of the largest pure electric fleets in the UK. Mitie is already ahead of schedule for its aim to have a 45 per cent zero-carbon fleet by March 2023. Mitie’s fleet currently comprises 2,952 passenger vehicles and 4,042 commercial goods vehicles. On average, each vehicle travelled 17,000 miles and each ICE vehicle emitted 6 tonnes of CO2e in FY22. Mitie’s 2,643 EVs prevent 15,858 tonnes of carbon from polluting the environment annually. As Mitie’s fleet makes up 94 per cent of its operational emissions, transitioning to EVs has significantly contributed to Mitie reducing its emissions intensity by 43 per cent to 5.28 tonnes.
Individual fleet managers
The Private Sector Fleet Manager of the Year, sponsored by Synetiq, was presented to Aaron Powell from Speedy Asset Services for putting the fleet on its environmental journey. Since joining the business, Aaron’s objective was to reduce the company’s overall carbon foot print. Aaron has completely changed the company car list from diesel vehicles to full EV and PHEV vehicles, as well as implementing the roll out of EV chargers at its locations. Speedy now has chargers at over 10 sites, with a plan to have them in every location by the end of 2023. Aaron has also brought in the industry first 27t full EV plant bodied vehicle which is based out of its new innovation centre in Milton Keynes and will operate on the HS2 contract. Aaron has also worked with the body conversion company to design the industry first chassis cab half box half curtain vehicle. This vehicle will allow Speedy to deliver its kit in all weathers dry and securely. The first vehicle is a mild hybrid diesel version but a version based on the Maxus E Delivery 9 chassis cab is also being worked on.
The Public Sector Fleet Manager of the Year, sponsored by Rivus Fleet Solutions, went to two individuals that are responsible for pioneering work at London Ambulance Service – Chris Rutherford and Rob MacIntosh. Ambulances are the core vehicles at London Ambulance Service, with over 500 operating in London covering up to 50,000 miles per annum. The ambulances currently weigh five tons and are diesel powered. Following a significant investment and huge amount of innovation, London Ambulance Service has reduced the weight down to 3.5 tons, saving 30 per cent of the exhaust emissions. London Ambulance Service has purchased 59 lightweight ambulances and four fully electric ambulances, as well as 42 Ford Mustang Mach-E fully electric response cars. This is set to make it the largest fully electric response fleet in the country. The vehicles will be capable of up to 330 miles on a single charge and can add 73 miles of range with a 10 minute high powered charge. The savings in fuel could be as high as £4,800 per car per annum.
Innovation in the sector
White Motorcycle Concepts won the GREENFLEET Award for Industry Innovation for its Aerodynamic First Responder Hybrid Motorcycle. Born from the desire to reduce the motorcycle industry’s CO2, White Motorcycle Concepts’ first patented innovation is a unrestricted duct through a motorcycle’s centre, reducing drag by up to 70 per cent against the current world leader. White Motorcycle Concepts has engineered this duct into a first responder motorcycle, reducing drag (25 per cent), enabling the motorcycle to go further for the same input. The company has also added a detachable battery 5kW electric drive system, supplementing the 300cc petrol engine at low speed where it’s most efficient, then bleeding out the electric drive the higher the speed, where the aerodynamic benefit takes over, meaning the batteries don’t drain really quickly. The overall result is a reduction in CO2 by up to 44 per cent and a fuel efficiency of 104mpg. What’s more, all aerodynamic parts are constructed from recycled aerospace carbon fibre. The detachable batteries also provide a portable power source, which, in the field, can be used, for example to charge laptops or mobile phones. A foldable 10,000 lumen light can also be used for unlit road areas or where there is little light at a crime scene. Paua won the IT Innovation Award for the Paua app and card, which allows drivers to find, charge, and pay for charging on public infrastructure networks. The app allows drivers to find out if a charge point is active, the connector type, the charging speed, the costs, and the availability. Paua provides a 100 per cent renewables guarantee and a fleet manager dashboard to monitor all transactions; plus fleet managers can receive a single VAT ready itemised bill for accounting. The Charging Infrastructure Provider of the Year, sponsored by Paythru, was awarded to Joju Charging in recognition of its exceptional growth, increasing projects sold by 230 per cent and meeting increased demand by expanding the company by 30 per cent.
Joju works with 100 different local authorities, councils, and other public bodies and in the past year has complete 1,300 projects – a mix of fast and rapid chargers in fleet and visitor charge points, as well as public car parks and on-street. They also impressed through their work with bluelight sector which traditionally have sensitive sites. With 1,300 charge points installed this year, Joju reports to have saved 3300 tCO2e per year, at an average 10kWh charge per day. Assuming a 50:50 mix of diesel and electric cars, the charging at the EVCPs have saved 8.3 tonnes of NOx emissions and 400 kg PM10s.
Decarbonising commercials
The HGV Manufacturer of the Year accolade was awarded to Mercedes-Benz Trucks UK. With three new battery-electric trucks announced in 2022, and one coming in 42 different configurations, Mercedes-Benz Trucks are continuing to push the boundaries of what’s possible in HGV electrification. With more electric trucks entering UK fleets this year, plus an eConsulting service that supports customers on their eMobility journey, they were the worthy winner of HGV Manufacturer of the Year.
Maxus (Harris Automotive Distributors), meanwhile were awarded the LCV Manufacturer of the Year title. Since June 2020, Maxus has launched three eLCVs to market, the T90EV, an electric commercial pickup, plus two electric commercial vans, the eDeliver 3 and eDeliver 9. In 2022, Maxus launched a multi-million EV Support Programme to encourage and support fleet buyers to switch to electric motoring. To incentivise the switch to electric, 2,000 eDeliver 9 vans have been subsidised.
Green vehicles The hotly contended Electric Vehicle Manufacturer of the Year award, sponsored by Tusker, was presented to MG Motor, which has gone from strength to strength in 2022. Already popular with fleet drivers thanks to the all-electric ZS compact SUV and MG5 EV estate, as well as the MG HS PHEV, the brand sold over 38,300 cars in the first nine months of 2022, making it the UK’s 12th most popular manufacturer. This looks set to continue with what is arguably the launch of the company’s most important car in recent times, the MG4 EV. A family hatchback, the MG4 EV is built on a new and bespoke EV chassis – the Modular Scalable Platform (MSP) and has a range between 218 miles and 281 miles, depending on type. The PHEV Manufacturer of the Year accolade was awarded to BMW for bolstering its plug-in hybrid models. The very popular 3 Series has been relaunched with styling and technology updates. The two-wheel drive 330e, and all-wheel drive 330e xDrive offer CO2 emissions of 30-37 and 33-42g/km respectively. The completely re-engineered and restyled 2 Series Active Tourer features, like the 3 Series, a raft of mild hybrid and plug-in hybrid engines. The 230e xDrive and 225e xDrive Active Tourer PHEVs use BMW’s fifth-generation eDrive technology, with an electric motor acting on the rear wheels while a three-cylinder petrol engine drives the front wheels. Electric range has been increased to up to 49 miles on the WLTP cycle. These new additions mean BMW’s plug-in hybrid family of cars now numbers eight individual, different models. Peugeot meanwhile won the Fleet Car Manufacturer of the Year in recognition of its wide range of electric cars and fleet orders in 2022. The e-208, GreenFleet’s 2021 Vehicle of the Year, has joined the fleets of the AA Driving School and Onto, while the e-2008 SUV has also joined the Onto car parc, as well as being embraced by the Furniture Village fleet, which has ordered 25 cars. The e-208 has also been updated itself, with 15 per cent more power and 10.5 per cent more electric driving range. Using the motor from the all-new and all-electric e-308 which will arrive in 2023, power rises to 154bhp, and driving range increases to a distance of up to 248 miles (WLTP). Usable battery capacity also increases from 46.6kWh to 48.1kWh.
The Ford E-Transit became GREENFLEET’s Vehicle of the Year, sponsored by The Algorithm People. The Ford Pro E-Transit offers a comprehensive specification and advanced technologies including a standard 68kWh usable battery capacity, providing a WLTP range of up to 197 miles, with a payload of up to 1,711kg on the van model. The family totals 25 van, double-cab-in-van and chassis cab variants with multiple lengths, roof heights, and GVMs. Priced from £48,0458 (ex VAT) the purchase price for the E-Transit Leader L2H2 350 is £990 lower than the equivalent diesel.
Enabling green mobility
The Leasing Company of the Year was awarded to LeasePlan UK for expanding its services, enabling fleets to go green. LeasePlan has expanded its flagship offering to include LeasePlan Flexible, which is an EV-focused, mid-term rental proposition, with a digital showroom where customers can self-serve through vehicle-selection and contract e-signing. From 2,661 vehicles in 2021, the LeasePlan Flexible fleet has grown to 4,092 vehicles and is predicted to exceed 6,000 vehicles by end-2022 – a 125 per cent increase. Another new addition is EV Salary Sacrifice – a new online portal that focuses on helping drivers transition to EVs through a dedicated hub and the ability to add a home ChargePoint, with the cost spread across the contract term. The past year has also seen the launch of the EV Education Hub – an online resource providing an EV one-stop shop.
Europcar Mobility Group UK meanwhile scooped the Mobility Provider of the Year title for continuing to add electric and sustainable vehicles to its fleet. Seventy-five per cent of Europcar’s company car vehicle orders for its own employees are EV and 15 per cent are hybrid. The average CO2 for this fleet is 17g, compared to 114g 12 months ago. What’s more, Europcar’s Flex long-term rental gives business owners the ability to manage operational costs as well as providing the opportunity to ‘try before you buy’ on new motoring technology. The ‘Europcar electric van experience’ demo programme for the Mercedes-Benz eVito van also gives customers the EV experience. The company was recently awarded the EcoVadis Platinum medal and became the first mobility provider to have its carbon reduction objectives approved by Science Based Targets initiative and upgraded to AAA by MSCI Inc.
Championing green fuels
Each year, the GREENFLEET Awards recognises individuals working in the fleet, transport and automotive industries that have championed the cause of electric vehicle uptake. These individuals are passionate about EV technology, work to overcome any challenges, and share their experience with others. This in turn has has a positive effect on driving up EV adoption. The EV champions for 2022 are Sam Clarke from Gridserve, Oliver Craughan from DPD UK, S-J Mitchell from OVO Energy, Bill Laidlaw from Maxus UK, Linda Grave from EV Driver, and John Curtis from EV Café. The AFV Champions, meanwhile, who fight the case for alternative fuels, went to Gloria Esposito from Zemo Partnership, Gareth Healy from Redcar & Cleveland Council, and Sarah Gray from Rivus.
Lorna McAtear, head of fleet at the National Grid, won the GREENFLEET Award for Outstanding Achievement for her tireless efforts to decarbonise electric vehicles and share her experience with others. Having worked at several major organisations and led on several electric vehicle related projects, including Optimise Prime, Lorna joined National Grid in August 2019 as fleet manager. She is also a board member of the Association of Fleet Professionals.
Keyword: Meet the 2022 GREENFLEET award winners