The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is growing its fleet of Mitsubishi Outlander plug-in hybrid commercial vehicles.
The UK Government department started by ordering 16 vehicles in April last year, then ordered 20 more, before recently ordering another 60, taking its total to 96.
DEFRA’s ultimate goal is to have a fully electric fleet, but it sees the Outlander PHEV Commercial as a good interim way of reducing emissions and running costs.
Operators are required to fully charge the vehicles every evening, to ensure they achieve the best possible fuel economy and emissions.
Mitsubishi Motors UK sales and marketing director David Rodriguez said: “We are very proud that Defra chose the Outlander PHEV Commercial for its fleet. That it has substantially increased its initial order demonstrates that used correctly, PHEVs can significantly lower any business’ carbon footprint and its running costs.
“While Mitsubishi Motors fully supports the move to carbon-neutral transport in the future, it has pioneered and championed the PHEV as an important transitional technology.”