Smith Brothers’ vehicle electrification programme recognised by Fleet News
The Fleet News recently featured Smith Brothers in their Electric Fleet Special Report, recognising the business’s progress towards decarbonising our vehicle fleet.
As a FORS Gold operator of cars, light commercial vehicles and heavy-duty trucks, SBS are exploring all opportunities to decarbonise without negatively impacting our customers and the overall quality service we are renowned for.
The business has already achieved phase one of our electrification plan by transitioning from traditional combustion cars to electric and hybrid vehicles. The project initially began in September 2020 when all SBS business car drivers were offered the choice of a battery electric vehicle (BEV) or a hybrid (PHEV) with CO₂ emissions below a 50g/km threshold.
A wide range of petrol/diesel alternatives
Initially, Tesla was the only manufacturer offering a car with a WLTP mileage range of 250, meaning the staff members had a limited choice. However, they did have the additional advantage of the Tesla Supercharger network. The minimum 250 miles is still stipulated within our environmental policy, however today the majority of the electric car market is capable of this range, so drivers have more choice.
Smith Brothers no longer operates any all-petrol or diesel cars, with the last being replaced in 2023. Currently, BEVs account for two-thirds of our fleet, with PHEVs making up the remainder. The balance will continue to shift in favour of BEVs in 2024 as more staff members take advantage of the scheme.
A substantial but worthy investment
The investment in our electrification programme is substantial but has proven cost-effective.
Not only have our vehicle emissions reduced significantly as expected, our national insurance contributions (NICs) for the fleet have fallen drastically, residual values have outperformed those of internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, and the business’s road risk exposure has improved dramatically.
Furthermore, our accident rates have dropped, which we believe is due to the additional advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) technologies that BEVs have on them. This has brought cheaper premiums and bursaries to support us in continuing to specify these technologies.
Charging infrastructure
To support our growing fleet of electric cars, Smith Brothers is investing further into our EV charging infrastructure by beginning to upgrade the workplace chargers at all locations to ChargedEV’s Easee 22kW AC smart chargers.
Commercial vehicles
The transport department’s attention now turns to the business’s light and heavy commercial vehicles. At the present day, there are technological limitations which currently prevents the business from achieving its ultimate goal without sacrificing service quality.
The Transport Team however is being proactive where possible, ensuring all SBS light commercial vehicles are chassis cabs rather than off-the-shelf panel vans, for example. They will also be soon introducing Ford’s new long-wheelbase Transit to local routes, which is capable of ranges between 150-180 miles load dependent.
Ultimately, Smith Brothers aims to have transitioned our entire LCV fleet to non-diesel by 2035 and our HGV fleet by 2040. We hope to do this even sooner should the technology allow, or hydrogen arrives.
Follow the link below for the full article as featured in Fleet News’ Electric Fleet Special Report.
www.fleetnews.co.uk/features/sbs-cuts-emissions-and-collisions-with-transition-to-electric-fleet
