A spotlight on 2023's GREENFLEET Award winners

The GREENFLEET Awards showcase excellence within the fleet and transport decarbonisation sector. Here's a close look at 2023's award winners

The 2023 GREENFLEET awards, sponsored by Optimize, took place on 7 December at the British Motor Museum in Warwick, and were presented by comedian Simon Evans.

Amongst the winners were pioneering fleet operators that have risen to the environmental challenge, as well as the companies and vehicle manufacturers that support them. There was individual recognition too, with fleet manager awards, together with the coveted EV Champions - which are now in their tenth year.
    
For the third year, GREENFLEET also announced its Vehicle of the Year award. The 2023 winner was the Maxus T90EV electric pick-up, distributed by Harris Automotive Distributors, recognised for its impressive range of up to 220 miles and its versatility within the fleet sector.

The GREENFLEET Award for Outstanding Achievement was presented to Toddington Harper, CEO of GRIDSERVE, in appreciation of GRIDSERVE’s groundbreaking Electric Forecourts and solar farms, which have been instrumental in decarbonising transport. Toddington joined the awards via video link to Dubai, where he was attending COP28, to accept his award and reflected on his inspirational career making clean energy and sustainability accessible for the masses. 
    
Public Sector Car Fleet of the Year

Police Scotland took home the accolade of Public Sector Car Fleet of the Year for its significant introduction of greener vehicles onto its fleet; with 1,025 ultra low emission vehicles, this makes up 30 per cent of the overall fleet. It also has 738 fully electric vehicles and plans are already underway to increase this during 2023/24 financial year. Over the past three years, Police Scotland has reduced diesel consumption from 5.7 million to 3.8 million litres. This equates to a projected gross reduction in carbon emissions of over 4,000 tCO2e.
      
Public Sector Commercial Fleet of the Year
    
London Ambulance Service was presented with the award for Public Sector Commercial Fleet of the Year, impressing judges with its innovation and investment put into , reducing the weight of its ambulances down to 3.5 tonnes (from 5 tonnes), saving 30 per cent of the exhaust emissions across 128 new vehicles. It has now taken this a step further and have just got its first fully electric ambulance from an OEM. The Trust has three more being delivered and when proven, are planning to buy these at scale in 2024.
    
Public Sector Fleet Manager

Edward Yendluri from Westminster City Council was the worthy recipient of the Public Sector Fleet Manager Award for delivering real innovation in the council's waste, cleansing, and recycling fleet. These include testing compressed natural gas (CNG), hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), and hydrogen, as well as upcycling old diesel trucks to fully electric vehicles and securing a large fleet of OEM full electric trucks. Edward led the electric depot project, which has highly sophisticated smart power balancing charging infrastructure for a fleet of 45 electric trucks. The power for the depot is procured from an energy from waste plant (EfW), where Westminster’s non-recyclable waste is incinerated to generate power via a private power purchase agreement. This model has no impact on the already congested inner London power grid and saves over 2,600 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year.

Private Sector Car Fleet of the Year
    
The winner of the Private Sector Car Fleet of the Year was E.ON UK, which currently has 620 company cars on its fleet, with 79 per cent of those being electric. This keeps the company firmly on track for its target of being fully electric by 2025. E.ON UK’s average CO2 across the company car fleet is 19g/km, an 85 per cent reduction in emissions in the three and a half years since the company started its fleet decarbonisation journey. E.ON has a good numbers of electric vehicle charges at its sites, and is also looking to reduce other travel related emissions by introducing a travel booking system.

Private Sector Commercial Fleet of the Year
    
Welch’s Transport was crowned with the title of Private Sector Commercial Fleet of the Year, recognised for its work greening its fleet and helping other hauliers to do the same. Last year the company took on one of the country’s first 19-ton battery electric HGVs. Adding to this achievement is the installation of a 150-kW charger back which holds the mantle for the only HGV publicly accessible supercharger in the UK, a resource shared with fellow hauliers. The company is also harnessing artificial intelligence to optimize their routes and reduce emissions.
    
Private Sector Fleet Manager of the Year 

Stuart Murphy from Royal Mail took the prize for Private Sector Fleet Manager of the Year, recognised for the highly successful rollout of the electric van programme and his  efforts to explore and implement alternative fuel solutions. As head of fleet transformation, Stuart spearheaded the team that deployed the largest and quickest EV fleet transformation in the UK and significantly contributed to Royal Mail’s Steps to Zero strategy which includes the ambition to reach Net Zero emissions by 2040. 

IT Innovation Award

The IT Innovation award examines the latest advancements in fleet technology, including fleet management software, telematics, route tracking and other IT related transport technology. Dynamon was the 2023 winner, celebrated for its new Synthetic Telematics module which allows businesses to run a virtual electric fleet. The technology, similar to that used by aerospace manufacturers, can either take existing telematics data or create its own. Using ZERO’s extensive, bespoke database of almost all electric commercial vehicles, fleets can spec exact vehicles, including options such as battery size, tyre choice, weights, optional extras and accessories. Next, they can then create routes, using either existing journeys or by plotting new ones. Fleets can now run their entire operation virtually before a wheel even turns for real.
    
Leasing Company of the Year Award (up to 20,000 vehicles)

This year there were two categories for leasing companies, depending on their fleet size. For the category up to 20,000 vehicles, Grosvenor Leasing won the award, in recognition of its 0Zone EV transition consultancy service. This service has been guiding fleet customers to become some of the greenest in the country, while also ensuring its own fleet leads by example. By 2025, Grosvenor Leasing’s internal fleet will be completely emission-free. Already, its in-house fleet is 85 per cent electrified, with 60 per cent of vehicles fully electric. Through Grosvenor’s innovative electric van switch programme, customers can source an ICE van on a flexible contract, then switch to an EV with free early termination when a suitable fully-electric van is offered by manufacturers.
    
Leasing Company of the Year Award (over 20,000 vehicles)

In the larger leasing company category, Volkswagen Financial Services Fleet scooped the award, with judges impressed with the company's EVolve proposition – which offers support for fleets, including a host of tools, solutions, services and advice. The EVolve proposition has had significant environmental impacts, with a 58 per cent CO2 deduction across its order bank between 2020 and 2022, and EV orders growing ahead of industry averages.
    
Mobility Provider of the Year

Mobility Provider of the Year recognises efforts to reduce the environmental impact of business travel with innovative measures such as zero-emission vehicles, car clubs, car sharing, flexible rental and leasing, as well as the promotion of public transport and active travel. Hiyacar won the award, in recognition of its versatile vehicle sharing platform. It is the only CoMoUK accredited car club operator allowing both P2P car sharing (Airbnb for cars) and traditional return to base car clubs on the same platform. It is currently allowing 33,000 verified drivers share 2,600 live vehicles. Hiyacar also provides Car Club Solutions for new developments, pool car fleet management systems for NHS Trusts, as well as for local authorities.
        
Alternative Fuel Provider of the Year
    
The Alternative Fuel Provider of the Year award went to Certas Energy for its work supplying HVO – a drop-in alternative diesel made from renewable raw materials and sustainable waste from verified vegetable fats and oils. Certas Energy is a Recognised Fuel Supplier under Zemo’s Renewable Fuels Assurance Scheme and is providing assistance to Royal Mail with its roll-out of HVO for its HGVs.

Public & On-street Charging Provider of the Year

New for this year, the Public & On-street Charging Provider of the Year award recognised the the company that can demonstrate excellence in its customer satisfaction and reliability rates, as well as its efforts to tackle challenges to EV adoption through its public charging solutions.
    
GRIDSERVE won the award for its GRIDSERVE Electric Highway network of sustainably-powered EV chargepoints, covering 85 per cent of the UK’s motorways. The network has chargers at over 170 locations delivering over 10 million miles of range into the UK’s electric vehicles each month, including 28 Electric Super Hubs and two innovative Electric Forecourts®.

Fleet & Workplace Charging Provider of the year

Also new for 2023, the Fleet & Workplace Charging Provider of the year award recognised companies that can demonstrate successful charging installations and a willingness to go above-and-beyond to help customers with their on-site infrastructure requirements.
    
Vital EV Solutions scooped the award in the fleet charging category, in recognition of their growth and specialist work in high-power, fast-charging DC truck and LCV solutions. Since foundation in 2019, Vital has seen an average 400 per cent year-on-year growth – 437 per cent in the last year alone. This is derived from 1,129 successful charger installations for 106 clients.

HGV Manufacturer of the Year Award

DAF Trucks was presented with the award for HGV Manufacturer of the Year for its new generation DAF XD and XF Electric which has a range of over 310 miles. DAF’s e-trucks are also embedded in UK fleets, with the Asset Alliance Group placing an order for 1,500 new models – including at least 75 e-HGVs. What’s more, a DAF LF Electric was driven by Team DAF-Cenex in GREENFLEET’s 2023 EV Rally, with the truck seconded from the UK’s Battery Electric Truck Trial (BETT).
    
LCV Manufacturer of the Year Award

Recognising innovation in light commercial vehicles, IVECO won the LCV Manufacturer of the Year category, in recognition of its new eDaily which offers class-leading advantages in towing capability and battery options due to a modular battery set-up.  A choice of one (37kWh), two (74kWh) or three (111kWh) batteries means an operator can add or remove batteries or swap a unit between vehicles should a vehicle mission change. Official WLTP combined cycle ranges start at 64 miles for the 3.5t, 37kWh single-battery model, through to 186 miles for the 111kWh, three-battery 4.25t variant.
    
Fleet Car Manufacturer of the Year Award

BMW was awarded the accolade of Fleet Car Manufacturer of the Year Award, in celebration of its broad range of models that are successful in the fleet market, including the X1, 3 Series, i4 and 5 Series. The all-electric i4 strikes at the heartland of the fleet market, and this year a new entry level i4 eDrive 35 model has been launched, the 210kW, 299-mile range saloon adding more fleet appeal. 

Electric Vehicle Manufacturer of the Year Award

Vauxhall was crowned the title of Electric Vehicle Manufacturer of the Year in recognition of its range of electric cars and light commercial vehicles. The brand’s Vivaro Electric has proved incredibly popular with fleets - up to October 2023, the model has been the UK’s most popular electric light commercial, with the smaller Combo Electric sitting just two places below it.
    
GREENFLEET Vehicle of the Year

The Vehicle of the Year award goes to GREENFLEET’s choice of the most impressive zero-emission vehicle, in terms of range, technology, design, and charging capabilities. The award went to the Maxus T90EV, which is distributed by Harris Automotive Distributors. The MAXUS T90 EV is the UK’s first electric pickup, and offers a WLTP-rated range of up to 205 miles on a single charge, from its 88.5kWh battery. In addition to a very practical 1,000kg payload and up to 1,000kg (braked) of towing capacity, the T90EV combines a visually sporty design with a high specification, a modern interior finish and ample space for occupants and storage. 

GREENFLEET Award for Industry Innovation

The UK’s first fully electric mixer, conducted in partnership with TVS Interfleet (TVSI), Tarmac and Renault Trucks, won the GREENFLEET Award for Industry Innovation. TVSI took the opportunity to challenge every element of the conventional mixer design, its interaction with the vehicle chassis and its operation. The new e-mixer has no less than seven new patents. Following a three month trial, the e-mixer has already saved over five tonnes of CO2 from being released.

EV Champions

The 2023 GREENFLEET Awards marked the tenth year of recognising its EV Champions. The accolade recognises individuals working in the fleet, transport and automotive industries that have championed the cause of electric vehicle uptake. ​These individuals are passionate about EVs, work to overcome any challenges, and are happy to share their experience and passion with others. ​ ​ The 2023 EV Champions were David Watts from VWFS; Niall Riddell from Paua; Kate Tyrrell from ChargeSafe; Tom Middleditch from Europcar; and Claire Miller, Independent Mobility & Energy Advisor.

The 2023 EV Champions were joined on stage with winners from the past ten years, to form the EV Champion Hall of Fame.

For more information on the awards, click here.