How can your business take advantage of the electric vehicle opportunity?
The sale of petrol and diesel vehicles will be banned from 2030 in order to help the UK reach net zero. Everyone will eventually have to switch to EV’s, which can also positively impact your business.
If not your next, then your car after that will be electric, so pretty soon, we’re going to see EVs everywhere. Businesses can take advantage of this opportunity, but how? We have summarised ways your business can benefit from the EV opportunity, such as…
Installing EV chargers for your employees and customers: It is highly likely your premises will need EV chargers installed in the car park for your employees to charge their cars whilst at work. Installing them will also be a benefit for visiting customers and suppliers who may have travelled a significant distance. The addition of EV chargers, especially if employees are allowed to charge their vehicles for free, will help boost your brands net zero credentials.
If you own a shop, restaurant or a business that has a long dwell time and offers parking spaces for customers, installing EV chargers may bring you business that would have otherwise gone elsewhere. Providing your business with the opportunity to take advantage of the EV chargers may drive up the positive ‘linger factor’. of your business. Shops can also get their EV chargers on apps dedicated to help EV drivers find charging facilities, meaning greater awareness for your business, making this installation movement a no brainer.
Switching your business to an electric fleet: If your organsiation has a company fleet, such as a courier business, your vehicles will be producing substantial co2 emissions. By switching to electric vehciles you will be lowering your emissions substantially, as well as the ban of petrol and diesel cars, non-zero-emission HGVs will be banned from 2040, so your business must get ahead of this as there is likely to be a push on this as the date draws closer.
According to GOV.UK, there are currently three ‘clean air zones’ across the UK in Bath, Birmingham, and Portsmouth and a further three to be added in 2022, these being Bradford, Bristol, and Greater Manchester.. Investing in electric vehicles could help your business to make substantial savings if you regularly deliver to or drive through these areas.
If your fleet fail to meet the minimum emissions standards, you can be charged up to £100 for entering a clean air zone, so continuing to travel in these areas without meeting the requirements could lead you to an unwanted bill! We would suggest investigating what level of investment is required to transition to electric vehicles and then compare it to how much it would cost to maintain to your current petrol/diesel fleet.
Access to a new source of revenue: Some EV charging points are able to supply power back to the grid; these are called Two Way Charging Points. Two Way Charging Points are embedded with Vehicle-to-Grid technology which when connected to the charging point, stores the surplus of sustainably generated electricity and then the power is fed back into the grid at peak times. Within these schemes, you can get paid for storing energy in your EVs, then providing it back to the grid when it’s needed.
As EV’s become more popular, there is no better time than now for your business to invest in the opportunities this can bring; we have written a previous blog regarding the EV takeover, which you can find here.
How can Beond help?
As part of eEnergy PLC, we can support our customers with a vast range of knowledge and experience to help them achieve their sustainability and net zero targets. We have a range of services that can be used to support your business in developing a plan and implementing solutions, whether that be for EV’s or moving you to a green contract. Please speak to one of our advisors to help you, +44 20 8634 7533 or email info@beondgroup.com.
