A-to-Z EV Rally: Team Lex Autolease

Returning headline sponsor Lex Autolease is getting stuck-in with preparations for this year's A-to-Z EV Rally. GreenFleet catches up with Nick Williams, Managing Director at Lloyds Transport, for insight into Team Lex and how planning is going

Lex is returning as the Rally’s headline sponsor – what made you decide to get involved again this year?

We’re proud to continue our sponsorship of the EV Rally, not just this year, but for the next three years, driving forward the adoption of electric vehicles and showcasing the incredible progress in the industry. Lex Autolease remains steadfast in its support for sustainable mobility as we recognise the importance of embracing the electrification of transport.

The EV Rally has proven itself to be a valuable experience the last two years and we can use this to influence the industry and end users whilst helping to dispel some of the current myths and misinformation about electric vehicles.  

Sharing our stories of the EV Rally helps to drive awareness for the need of continued investment to maintain the nations momentum on the pathway to its zero emission vehicle transition targets.

You are entering with a four-vehicle team – could you tell us who will be driving and in what vehicles?

This year we have two cars, and two light commercial vehicles. We always like to do something a bit different so one of the cars will be an older vehicle to prove the robustness of EVs, not just now but well into their operational lives. We will be announcing the details soon but we are very excited about this one! 

We also don’t want to drive empty vans on the EV Rally; last year we had an electric motorbike in the back of our van. This year we are doing something completely different which, again, we will be announcing shortly.

Driving in the rally we will have myself, Paul Hyne, Chris Chandler, Andy Barrell, Andy Hill, Katy Woods, Steve Cocks, Kathryn Heaphy from Lloyds Banking Group and Lex Autolease. We are also delighted to have Quentin Willson of FairCharge, busting the EV myths with us, as well as some more guest drivers, so look out for the announcements on social media!

The Rally is over 1,400 miles and this year will be visiting towns and checkpoints from A to Z in alphabetical order. As you have completed the rally before, what learnings will you be bringing with you to help with your strategy this year?

Our team strategy will be the same as last year. We want the rally EV experience to be similar to peoples everyday driving, so we will not be studying “A to Z maps” for planning routes or preplanning charging strategies. 

We will be using the in-vehicle sat navs and routing technology, along with Apps to do all our routing and charging on the go. This makes our rally experience more relatable to everyday driving so we can identify potential issues and challenges of transitioning to EVs that everyday drivers may encounter.

We are expecting more high power charging hubs on this years rally, so it will be interesting to see how much charging costs vary from site to site, something we didn’t focus on too much last year.

Lex is also generously hosting the ‘Wrap Party’ after the 1,400+ mile trip. What can teams expect?

The End of Rally Event is being held at Lloyds Banking Group’s Chester site where participants in the EV Rally will be able to celebrate the end of what should be a fantastic rally and achievement by all teams. There will be a static display of some of the latest EVs, and presentations from GreenFleet and senior leaders from Lloyds and Lex Autolease on the rally, decarbonisation and what businesses are or should be doing to meet the UK’s road to zero objectives. And of course there will be fun, networking, interviews and food!

What improvements do you hope to see in the public charging infrastructure?

We know how much the charging infrastructure has grown over the last 12 months so we are expecting the challenges of charging to be less this year, however the EV Rally does “stress test” the charging infrastructure by putting about 50 EVs on a similar route on the same day. The rally will highlight any areas in the network which are maybe not as well served as others. But we are confident all the teams will be successful and showcase just how good both the vehicle technology and the UK's charging infrastructure is, and bust some myths about the UK’s charging infrastructure.

Why are events like the EV Rally important for driving up electric-vehicle adoption?

The EV Rally is a great visual demonstration of the significant range of electric vehicles now available in the UK, and their excellent capability to travel significant distances. From small family cars to large commercial vehicles, this demonstrates that EVs quite simply work, and that the charging infrastructure is up to the job. A key element of this year will be seeing the many sustainable energy solutions that disprove the myth that EVs are powered by coal fire stations, there will be wind and solar farms and other sustainable energy generation sites visited on the rally.

The rally is also an excellent opportunity to bust some of the negative stories and myths about electric vehicles and simply show they just work!

Please tell us about Lex's future plans, and how it can assist fleets on their net-zero journey?

Lex Autolease is fully committed to its net zero journey, with sustainability high on the agenda of both Lex Autolease, and Lloyds Banking Group. We have made massive strides in the electrification of UK transport with Lloyds Trasport, financing one in eight EVs registered on UK roads last year.

We have robust plans to continue on the road to zero and importantly supplying the knowledge and tools to our customers to enable them to successfully transition to zero emission fleets with us.

Involvement in the EV Rally is just one of the initiatives we are taking to help decarbonise transport and improve air quality in our cities.

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