National Grid is celebrating having over 1,000 electric vehicles in its UK fleet. The UK-based utility now runs a fleet of over 1,070 fully electric company cars and 312 zero-emission commercial vehicles (vans, 4x4s and HGVs) across its UK and US businesses.
With this announcement, the British multinational electricity and gas utility company headquartered in London, England, says it is on target to reach a 60% electrification of its fleet by the end of the 2025/26 financial year.
National Grid used the occasion of EV Day in the UK to reconfirm its commitment to having a 100% electric fleet by 2030 – for its light-duty vehicles. These targets are now enshrined in its new Responsible Business Charter.
The Anglo-American utility joined EV100 in 2021, where it made the pledge to completely decarbonise its car fleets by 2030, as with other members of the Climate Group alliance. At the time, National Grid said it was 2,879 vehicles in the UK and 2,905 vehicles in the US, so close to 6,000 vehicles. The energy company has also installed charging sites in the UK and says it continues adding 2,900 chargers for its fleets to the 1,400 points already deployed in their US territories.
Lorna McAtear, UK Fleet Manager at National Grid said: “The UK’s transition to electric vehicles is a key component in the race to net zero, and National Grid’s efforts to transform the country’s energy system mean we play a key role in facilitating this.” She carried on to say that this is the utility’s motivation “… to lead by example in electrifying our own fleet and to act as trailblazers and champions for the wider uptake of EVs amongst the communities we serve so that we can build a more sustainable future together.”
Other electrification efforts mentioned with the announcement encompass encouraging its workforce to embrace electrified transport by providing charging facilities at their premises and by launching a fully electric zero-emission shuttle bus for employees at its site at Warwick Technology Park in the UK.