What Van? Britain's biggest and best van buyers' guide

Northgate, one of the largest vehicle hire companies in the UK with a broad customer base, has been relentlessly pursuing the drive to reduce vehicle emissions by carbon reduction and vehicle electrification. Under its ‘Drive to Zero’ electrification initiative, which was launched at the end of 2021, Northgate provides a suite of solutions, aiding fleet customers in the sometimes-challenging transition to operating electric vehicles. With its proactive approach, the last 12 months have seen further developments including a series of roadshows, allowing hundreds of operators to explore the options open to them. Independent experts were on hand to offer impartial advice in an unpressurised environment. 

When engaging with a client, full qualification of its operation is vital to obtain an understanding of how the business uses its vehicles. Fleet data analysis is used to assess whether the transition is practical, either partially or fully. This includes analysis of the vehicles currently in use, distances travelled, routes and journey times. This will highlight which vehicles could potentially be switched to electric immediately, and others that could benefit from being retained while waiting for vans with a longer range between charges to become available. 

Northgate is in a position to supply a full solution to the electric van operator with the services offered by ChargedEV, part of the Redde Northgate group of companies. Providing a consultancy service for customers wishing to have a charger installed at either the workplace or at a driver’s home, ChargedEV can supply hardware, fitted by their own technicians nationwide. The vehicle and a 7kW charger can be funded together in a single contract, the package includes access to the public Monta platform together with service and maintenance for both van and charger all included in a single monthly charge.

The journey towards electrification isn’t restricted to Northgate’s customers. Internally, investment is being made and in the last 12 months, 13 of the busiest branches have been equipped to service electric vehicles. With a further 19 in the pipeline for the next year, this number meaning that almost 50% of outlets will be ready to service the ever-growing number of electric vans. Investment is being made in people too, with 100% of managers set to be trained to IMI EV Level 1 standard. The business has been awarded IMI Electric Vehicle Accreditation due to the quality of its internal EV technician training programme.