National Grid pledges fleet electrification in the US & UK
National Grid is joining EV100 as the first major US utility to commit to electrifying the fleet. The energy corporation also included the UK fleet in its pledge and said it would install charging stations across their locations.
In concrete terms, National Grid is electrifying 2,879 vehicles in the UK and 2,905 vehicles in the US, so close to 6,000 vehicles. The energy company also installs charging sites in the UK and continues adding 2,900 chargers for its fleets to the 1,400 points already deployed in their US territories.
“There’s huge potential to drive net-zero ambitions by transforming the fleet industry to electric vehicles. Viable electric cars and vans weren’t around five years ago, and it’s exciting to see the progress that’s being made to find feasible solutions in the market,” said Lorna McAtear, UK Fleet Manager at National Grid, upon joining the initiative by The Climate Group.
The EV100 initiative was founded by the Climate Group in 2017 with ten corporations, including Deutsche Post DHL, Vattenfall, Baidu, Ikea and LeasePlan. The idea was to send a strong market message by pledging to decarbonise their fleets by 2030. Currently, over a hundred corporate members have pledged to electrify their fleets within the decade by 2030.
National Grid is the first US utility to join and has progressed already. The utility operates 50 medium and heavy-duty electrified vehicles while replacing the company passenger cars with EVs. It is also running trials of some electric construction equipment and electrified aerial bucket trucks.
“National Grid is pushing the bar for other utilities,” said Amy Davidsen, Executive Director of North America at the Climate Group, in today’s announcement. “Through a collaborative approach to electrify their 5,784 vehicle fleet and provide charging stations by 2030, National Grid is sending a strong signal that electric transport will be the new normal by the end of the decade,” she added.
“In the US, we’re committed to move to a 100% electric fleet by 2030 for our light-duty vehicles and pursue the replacement of our medium and heavy-duty vehicles with zero-carbon alternatives,” Badar Khan, US President of National Grid, explained.
In the UK, the commitment includes replacing the entire commercial fleet with alternative fuel vehicles by 2030 and replacing 60% of all fleets in Electricity Transmission and 30% of all fleets in Gas Transmission with alternatively fueled, zero-emission vehicles.
The company is also committed to enabling employees to take part by, for example, installing over 160 charging ports at US premises and providing incentives for our employees towards the purchase or lease of EVs.
National Grid is a partner to the COP26 climate conference by the United Nations taking place in Glasgow, Scotland, this November.
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