British Gas orders 2000 electric Vivaro’s

British Gas have ordered 2,000 Vauxhall Vivaros-e’s making it one of the UK’s largest orders for electric vans and perhaps more importantly, announced it will never purchase another combustion engine vehicle!

British Gas, which is part of the giant energy group Centrica, has commitment to become a net zero organisation by 2025 meaning they have the task of electrifying there 12,000 operational fleet at an average rate of over 5000 units per annum. This is five years earlier than originally planned and they also confirmed there will be further orders for Vauxhall electric vehicles as soon as they become available.

Chris O’Shea, Chief Executive of Centrica, said:

“Everyone needs to act now to lower carbon emissions and help the UK reach net zero. We are leading from the front by not only lowering emissions for our customers and our communities, but by lowering our own emissions, and by increasing the speed at which we do this. Fully electrifying our fleet will make a big difference.

“At the same time, we are helping our customers make the switch to electric and working with motor manufacturers such as Vauxhall on services and solutions for their EV customers such as charge points, infrastructure and innovative EV tariffs with cheaper charging at night and free EV miles.

This order together with an additional 1,000 placed in the summer of 2020 represents the Vauxhall’s largest commercial BEV (battery electric van) order in the UK to date. Amazingly all the 3,000 electric vans are planned to be on the road by 2022. The company is prioritising high pollution areas to help lower emissions although British Gas engineers can volunteer to have the new vans.

Paul Willcox, Managing Director of Vauxhall Motors, said:

“I am delighted that British Gas has added to its initial order of fully-electric Vauxhall Vivaro-e vans that now represents the largest electric vehicle order for a commercial fleet in the UK. As the oldest British vehicle Brand since 1903, I want to thank British Gas, a fellow British business, for their loyalty and trust in Vauxhall.

“As with all businesses up and down the country, tradespeople rely on their van as an essential tool of their work and our 300-strong Retailer network is crucial in continuing to provide support to carry British business. The strength of the quantity of orders for our all-electric van demonstrates that the Vauxhall Vivaro-e can contribute towards the transition towards low emissions vehicles whilst improving air quality.”

The British Gas engineers will install all chargers at engineer homes and this will help accelerate EV adoption in the UK for homes and businesses.

Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said:

“It’s encouraging to see that one of Britain’s best-known brands is leading the way with the largest commercial EV fleet in the UK.

“This is a huge step as we build back greener, lower our carbon footprint and deliver better air quality up and down the country – with more zero-emission models of cars and vans on the market than ever before, there has never been a better time for drivers and businesses to make the switch.