Fruit-4-London, as the name suggests, is London based and as such takes full advantage of all the tax breaks and running costs savings available to electric vans
GREEN fruit is proving a healthy alternative in London after delivery firm Fruit 4 London announced that it was taking its small fleet of vans “all electric”.
Electric van sales may be in the doldrums at present (just over 1000 electric vans sold in the UK this year in a total market of 227,000), but for certain SME van fleets, such as Fruit 4 London, savings on electric power are proving ripe for the picking.
going electric is the best business decision when expanding our fleet, based on the impressive cost savings
The firm reckons it will save £9000 per vehicle. Some saving!
Fruit 4 London already runs two electric vans and decided to take advantage of the Energy Savings Trust’s Plugged In Fleet Initiative (PIFI), a Government-funded scheme which is offering 100 organisations in England the opportunity to receive free analysis and guidance on how plug-in vehicles might work for them.
Energy Saving Trust is working in partnership with EDF Energy and Route Monkey to deliver analysis which includes advice on electric vehicle infrastructure and optimising electric vehicles use.
After the PIFI scheme was completed, Laszlo Mulato, director of Fruit 4 London, decided to peel away his old vans as they came to the end of their lives and replace them with zero emission electric versions, which will of course use less juice.
Anyone thinking of following his lead must bear in mind that the savings quoted include exemption from the London Congestion Charge, so small van fleets outside the capital won’t save as much.
Mulato said: “After taking part in the Energy Saving Trust’s free PIFI analysis, we now know that we can go 100% electric. The review showed us that going electric is the best business decision when expanding our fleet, based on the impressive cost savings.
Leave A Comment