Vauxhall has agreed a deal to supply facilities management company Mitie with 655 Vivaro-e electric vans.
The first has already been delivered, taking Mitie to the milestone of 1,000 EVs on its fleet, and it has been fitted-out to ensure it can carry the equipment needed by a frontline engineer, while minimising weight to help maximise battery range.
Mitie’s electrification push had previously focused on cars and small vans, since when it started in mid-2019 there was no alternative to diesel vans to carry the heavy load often transported by its engineering teams.
Mitie’s order consists of a mixture of standard-wheelbase L1 and long-wheelbase L2 vans. All have been specced with the larger 75kWh battery option, allowing a range of up to 205 miles from each charge.
Mitie director of sustainability and social value Simon King said: “When we began our EV journey 18 months ago we thought switching our big vans would be one of our biggest challenges.
“However, with Vauxhall helping us overcome this hurdle, we’re very pleased to be marking our milestone 1,000th zero emission vehicle with the delivery of this Vivaro-e.
“With over 600 more set to join our fleet this year, we’re making great progress towards our target of 2,021 EVs in 2021 and helping even more Mitie fleet drivers switch to electric.”