2020's GREENFLEET award winners

Despite the coronavirus pandemic disrupting 2020, the environmental agenda has not lost pace, demonstrated by the hard work of the winners and commended organisations at the 2020 GREENFLEET Awards

The winners of the 2020 GREENFLEET Awards have been announced, in a digital ceremony on 2 December. Hosted by one of the biggest names in the world of electric vehicles, Roger Atkins, and assisted by one of the leading stars in UK comedy, impressionist Luke Kempner, the Awards celebrated the fleet operators, companies and individuals that have successfully slashed transport emissions, helping with the UK's air quality and net zero agenda.

Award winners

Electric Zoo scooped the IT Innovation Award for its Smart Tech Box, which can be placed into the glove box to gather data on the vehicle’s usage. Once the smart box is returned to Electric Zoo, the company gathers all the relevant information and prepares an EV suitability study, highlighting cost savings and how much CO2 can be saved for the business. This helps businesses make the switch to electric confidently.

The Mobility Provider of the Year award went to ONTO, Europe’s largest electric vehicle subscription service. For one monthly fee, members get a car, insurance, maintenance, servicing and even public charging included. This is all without any upfront deposit and with only a one month commitment. With the largest EV fleet in the UK, Onto is empowering customers to move onto electric vehicles, but also a new type of user experience - freeing people to have more but own less. This year saw Onto purchase 1,100 pure electric Renault Zoe cars - Renault’s biggest ever single order of ZOEs in the UK, 300 Peugeot e-208s, and 300 DS 3 CROSSBACK E-TENSE models.
Grosvenor Leasing was awarded the title of 2020's Leasing Company of the Year Award, for the work its done adapting its 0Zone solution, which now covers three core areas - the environmental, financial and operational implications of moving towards a greener fleet. The company has also launched the Ultra-Low Emission Transition scheme so employees can trial a hybrid car before choosing their next company car. Grosvenor has helped Weetabix move its car policy to a new low emission choice list and helped Tata Steel electrify part of its fleet. More broadly, across Grosvenor’s entire client base, 50 per cent of new vehicle orders are now plug-in hybrids or fully electric company cars, and Grosvenor’s average for 2020 registrations is 92g/km compared to the UK average of 127.9g/km for 2019.

The award of Charging and Refuelling Infrastructure Provider of the Year was presented to Elmtronics for the second year running. Elmtronics offers a complete end-to-end solution to customers needing EV infrastructure. It works with 35 different NHS trusts throughout the UK including Southern NHS, Northumbria NHS Trust, as well as the Met Police, and the London Ambulance Service. It also work with local authorities, police forces and fire authorities, as well as many FTSE 100 companies, such as FedEx, Arrival, Milk & More, Nissan, Babcocks and the National Trust. Since launching in October 2018, Hubsta now has over 3.5k members with over 217,000 charging logs initiated, making this one of the fastest growing EV Networks developed in the UK.

Manufacturer awards

The title of LGV Manufacturer of the Year was awarded to FUSO Trucksfor its eCanter, a light electric truck that has a range of 62 miles with a full payload. The electric drive system carries a motor and six high-voltage lithium-ion battery packs. Its modular battery concept means it can be adapted to payload/ range requirements of customers. Dublin’s postal service An Post is using two FUSO eCanters for zero emission deliveries, while gas supplier Calor has taken delivery of an electric FUSO eCanter for deliveries in central London. Wincanton also has a fleet of FUSO eCanters which form part of its last mile and urban delivery operation.

LCV Manufacturer of the Year, sponsored by JoJu Charging, was awarded to Maxus for forging on during such a difficult year, managing a rebrand (from LDV) and the launch of two new vehicles – the DELIVER 9 and e DELIVER 3. The e DELIVER 3 is the brand’s newest EV model to hit the market; its a new- platform small LCV which is only available as a fully-electric model. Billed as the little brother to the brand’s larger LDV EV80 van, the e DELIVER 3 can clock up to 198 miles (NEDC) on a single charge. MAXUS now offers vehicles of differing body styles, heights and powertrains for ultimate flexibility.

Toyota claimed the accolade of City Car Manufacturer of the Year for its new hybrid Yaris and Corolla, which have proven to be hugely popular when up against their all-electric rivals, and have shot to the top of the small car choice list in many UK fleets. The new generation Toyota Yaris was launched this year. Using a fourth generation hybrid system combined with a new 3-cylinder 1.5-litre petrol engine, the overall efficiency has increased by 22 per cent – but not at the cost of performance, as this is 16 per cent higher. Acceleration is improved and the EV capabilities have been transformed, with speeds of up to 80mph now attainable along with EV driving possible for much longer periods in traffic.

The Fleet Car Manufacturer of the Year award was presented to to Volvo, which now has a plug-in variant across its entire range now - a massive appeal to fleet buyers. The newest addition to Volvo’s plug-in hybrid range is the XC40 Recharge Plug-in Hybrid, which has a 27 miles range electric power alone. Combining a 180hp petrol engine with an 82hp electric motor, it offers CO2 emissions from just 47g/km and official fuel economy of up to 134.5mpg (WLTP).

BMW meanwhile scooped the PHEV Manufacturer of the Year award for its plug-in hybrid range that takes the best of BMW’s combustion engines, using renowned EfficientDynamics, and marries it to modern battery technology and an electric motor. The result is a BMW with two power sources, but more so, it’s a totally responsive drive, with zero emissions at the point of use. BMW is also introducing eDrive Zones into its PHEVs which uses geo-fencing to allow the vehicles to switch to electric only power when in low emission zones.

The hotly contended EV Manufacturer of the Year award, sponsored by Electric Zoo, was awarded to Kia Motors (UK) for its hugely popular e-Niro, which has a range of up to 282 miles on one charge. Successfully combining two of the fastest growing trends – crossover styling with electrification, the e-Niro’s popularity in the UK has been so fast that Kia Motors (UK) managed to secure additional capacity to satisfy the order bank. In 2019, there were just 212 e-Niro registrations. In 2020 YTD there have been 4,238 registrations, with 1,786 in the orderbank. Some large fleet names including Police Scotland, Scottish Ambulance and Scottish Water are running the e-Niro on fleet and have it as a choice on their policy car lists.

Public sector fleets

The Public Sector Fleet of the Year award (S-M), sponsored by Athlon UK, was Gloucestershire Constabulary which has recently moved to be the largest EV fleet by percentage in the UK. This journey started in 2016 with the introduction of the Nissan Leaf. Since then, it has assessed the requirements of each department through a full fleet review and in 2019 introduced a further number of EVs. The total figure is now 67 Nissan Leafs, nine Nissan eNV-200 vans and three Tesla Model 3s. This total of 81 electric vehicles accounts for 20 per cent of the total fleet number. Gloucestershire Constabulary is proud to say that one in five of its vehicles is full electric. When you break this down further to cars that are marked or unmarked, EV makes up 47 per cent of its unmarked fleet at present. This move to EV has been assessed to have saved approximately 283 tonnes of carbon per year.

Aberdeen City Council meanwhile was awarded the title of Public Sector Fleet of the Year (M-L), sponsored by Teletrac Navman, for continuing to grow its electric and hydrogen fleet, which includes vans, cars and specialist vehicles such as refuse collection vehicles and sweepers. This has reduced CO2 Emissions by 19,870kg. Currently on order is the first Hydrogen fuel cell refuse collection vehicle in the UK, to arrive in February 2021.

The title of Public Sector Fleet Manager of the Year, sponsored by Toyota UK, was Jiggs Bharij from the Metropolitan Police for managing over 5,000 fleet assets travelling 52 million miles each year, which are used for a number of operational response and public protection duties. Keeping the Met on the move is complex; its vehicles have to undergo extensive testing and conversion to ensure they are suitable for the Met’s operational needs. The team also manages the maintenance lifecycle and allocation of its vehicles to ensure they remain fit-for-purpose. The Met Police has committed to operating a zero emission fleet significantly ahead of 2050, with the majority of the fleet due to be electric-capable by 2030.
This is in response to both strict government objectives and a rapidly changing vehicle industry. It needs to meet these targets, without compromising its operational capability while also supporting its officers and staff through the change. Good progress has been made so far, and, to date, the Met has 600 ultra-low emission vehicles on the fleet, which have collectively travelled 16 million miles. 237 tonnes of CO2 have been saved by its electric vehicles, 120 tonnes saved by its hydrogen vehicles and 1979 tonnes saved by its hybrid vehicles.

Private sector fleets

Mitie scooped the award for Private Sector Fleet of the Year (M-L), sponsored by Algorithm People. In 17 months, Mitie’s fleet has grown to 790 EVs, achieving its target of a 20 per cent transition of cars and small vans to electric by the end of 2020, three months early. In one year, Mitie has added 714 EVs to its fleet, reduced its average CO2 g/km by 16.6 and saved £1 million. It is now using its experience and expertise to offer an EV transition service to clients. Mitie’s Landscaping Urban City Service is included in its range of Plan Zero services, involving the new Mercedes e-Vito van, using solar panels to charge the electric equipment inside. Mitie has also signed up to the Climate Group’s initiative EV100. Mitie has installed over 625 charge-points at offices and homes and is also supporting major UK EV infrastructure projects.

In the smaller fleet category, Nicholls Transport won the Private Sector Fleet of the Year (S-M) award, sponsored by Maxus. Nicholls Transport strives to minimise the environmental impact of its operations through embracing the latest fuel-efficient vehicles and technologies, as well as efficient working practices.
The company has ten IVECO trucks powered by Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) as well as an on-site refuelling station set up in partnership with GasRec, which fuels its fleet as well as other UK and European hauliers. The company also uses advanced routing technology, and practices moving consignments overnight or early in the morning whenever possible, to help its vehicles avoid congestion and reduce fuel consumption. To achieve and demonstrate sound environmental practice the company now follows the ISO14001 standard.

Gary King from Sainsbury's Group meanwhile won Private Sector Fleet Manager of the Year, sponsored by Algorithm People. Gary manages the operations of a fleet of 1,623 tractors, 852 rigids, 3,401 trailers and 102 shunters. The company’s target of reducing fuel/energy use by 34% by 2020 has been achieved and it is now working towards its target of net zero Carbon by 2040. The company’s total fuel savings are 8.5million litres since 2004/05. Sainsbury’s have been investing is alternative fuel since 2009, and has operated 109 dual fuel Gas/Diesel trucks for over eight years. Today the company operates 32 LNG tractor units, five CNG tractor units, and has another 10 Volvo Gas tractor units, entering service in January 2021. It also operates two electric vans.

Recognising industry innovation

GRIDSERVE won the coveted GREENFLEET Award for Industry Innovation for building the UK’s first Electric Forecourt® near Braintree, Essex. This is the first of over 100 sites to be built by GRIDSERVE in the next five years, as part of a £1bn programme to help make EV driving ultra-convenient and stress-free. 30 electric vehicles can be charged simultaneously with high power chargers that can deliver up to 350kW of charging power. As well as housing a retail space, the Electric Forecourt® also includes an education centre to showcase electric vehicles.

The GREENFLEET Outstanding Achievement Award, sponsored by the Algorithm People, was awarded to Nissan GB, for the work it has done during the Covid-19 pandemic, ensuring that key frontline NHS staff were able to get to and from work, in a safe and efficient manner, during the first lockdown. Nissan also provided a free car use service that included complimentary insurance and roadside assistance, and whilst vehicle production closed down, they used spare factory space and a team of volunteers to produce more than half a million protective aprons for NHS staff.

Championing individuals

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, many who were early-adopters, are passionate about EV technology, work to overcome any challenges, and share their experience, wisdom and passion with others. This in turn has has a positive effect on driving up EV adoption. Now in its 4th year, the EV champions this year went to Nigel Morris from Active Build Centre, Sukky Choongh from SMMT, Shayne Rees from ubitricity, Lorraine Fellowes from Kia, and Jonny Berry from the EV Cafe and Renault.

But recognising that it's not only work to do with electric vehicles that should be applauded, new to this year was the introduction of Alternatively Fuelled Vehicle (AFV) Champions. These awards go to the individuals championing alternative fuels, such as biofuels, hydrogen and HVO, as well as lobbying government to put the incentives and infrastructure in place to make them more widely used. 2020's AFV Champions were Jon Hunt, Graham Thomas, Andy Eastlake, Amanda Lyne, and Jonny Goldstone.