British Gas Fleet Review

Case Study

British Gas, the third largest fleet operating in the UK covering over 160 million miles per year, requested an EV deployment risk assessment on their fleet to understand what would be the most commercially and environmentally successful.

The Challenge

British Gas commissioned Cenex to examine the potential cost, emissions and performance implications of integrating electric vehicles into their fleet operations.

The Development

The deployment risk assessment was undertaken through the following steps:

  • Operational data from the fleet was used to create representative real-world drive cycles.
  • The vehicles analysed were VW Caddy Maxi and Nissan e-NV200
  • Both vehicles were determined under controlled conditions. The data produced was used to create models of them both in our Fleet Carbon Reduction Tool (FCRT)
  • The performances were modelled over the company drive cycles in the FCRT, to calculate the fuel consumption and emissions performance of the vehicle and the potential range of both vehicles.

Key Skills:

  • Data capture and analysis
  • Clear explanation of costs, emissions and performance
  • Comparison of conventional and alternatively fuelled vehicles

Learning Outcomes:

  • An EV would be able to cover most of the daily journeys
  • Significant emission savings were available

The Results

Results revealed that the e-NV200 could be commercially, environmentally and operationally effective in London and other city environments, given the total cost of ownership and emission reductions identified. However, careful planning would need to be undertaken so that variations in range, due to differing duties and high auxiliary loads in cold weather were not overlooked. A suitable safety buffer should be allowed in the planned deployment of the vehicles.