VW receives major order for the ID. Buzz Cargo from England
The 4,000th electric vehicle was accepted into the fleet at a special ceremony with representatives from the world of politics. The vehicle, a silver-painted ID. Buzz Cargo, comes from a major order for 650 vehicles that Mitie placed with VW Commercial Vehicles.
The ID. Buzz Cargo was prepared in cooperation between VW Commercial Vehicles and Mitie’s conversion partner Gentili UK. In the 3.9 cubic metres and 2.20 metres long cargo area, a light shelf was mounted on one side, and high-quality tools can be stored in a lockable cabinet. The vehicles have a through-loading bulkhead, eliminating the need for roof racks and external pipe racks.
According to Mitie, with 4,000 vehicles – 1,000 of which were new electric vehicles last year alone – almost 60 per cent of the company’s fleet is purely electric. Around 2,700 more electric cars and electric transporters are therefore needed to achieve the declared goal of achieving a 100 per cent e-quota by the end of 2025. So far, the energy service provider has procured electric vans from Vauxhall and Nissan, for example.
According to Mitie, the major contract for VWN is a multi-million-pound partnership between Mitie and National Grid (the UK’s electricity network operator), with Mitie providing facility management services at over 260 National Grid sites. The contract was awarded to Mitie by National Grid in April 2023 and will run for five years with the option to extend for a further three years.
With the National Grid contract, Mitie is supporting electromobility in several ways, according to the company’s own statement. Firstly, additional electric vans have been procured, more charging stations have been installed (a total of 2,800 charging points at employees’ homes and at customer locations) and the contract itself is also helping: Mitie engineers maintain National Grund’s systems around the clock and thus contribute to a stable power grid.
Mitie joined the Climate Group’s EV100 initiative back in 2019. The company had committed to electrifying its entire vehicle fleet by 2030 – at the time, Mitie stated a volume of 5,300 vehicles. However, with orders received in the meantime, such as from National Grid, the fleet has grown since then.
“Reaching our 4,000th EV is a major milestone on our journey to reaching a zero-emission fleet by the end of 2025,” said Heidi Thompson, Group Fleet Manager at Mitie. And specifically on the choice of the ID. Buzz Cargo, she added: “With Mitie colleagues giving great reviews on the comfort, driving experience, and practicality of the ID. Buzz Cargo, this model was an ideal choice to cater to the diverse requirements of our engineers, cleaners and landscaping colleagues that will be driving the Buzz.”
In January, VWN received a large order for the ID. Buzz Cargo, with 100 units of the electric van going to Helion in Switzerland. And in November 2023, the Irish postal service had 45 ID. Buzz Cargo into the delivery fleet.
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