LeasePlan Joins Global Zero Emissions Initiative

LeasePlan has joined the Zero Emission Vehicle Challenge as a founding member in the new global coalition hoping to accelerate the adoption of electrified vehicles across the globe.

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July 10, 2018

LeasePlan Joins Global Zero Emissions Initiative — LeasePlan has joined a global zero emission vehicle initiative to accelerate the adoption of electrified vehicles.
Photo courtesy of LeasePlan.

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LeasePlan has joined the Zero Emission Vehicle Challenge as a founding member in the new global coalition hoping to accelerate the adoption of electrified vehicles across the globe.

The group has been organized by the Climate Group, an NGO, and the C40 group of cities that includes New York, Paris, Milan, Copenhagen, Pittsburgh, and Mexico City.

The coalition is urging other government agencies and corporations to join the effort, including businesses that founded the EV100 initiative earlier this year, including LeasePlan, calling for full fleet electrification by 2030.

Other founding members of the challenge include Unilever, Vattenfall, EDF Energy, the Mahindra Group, New York City, and the state of California.

"Although we're seeing the appetite for EVs rise every day, the vehicles, infrastructure or policies to meet this demand aren’t there yet," said Tex Gunning, LeasePlan's chief executive. "We're therefore delighted to join the global ZEV Challenge and work with the industry to make zero emission mobility a reality. Starting electric can be one of the easiest ways to tackle climate change, but only if everyone rises to the ZEV Challenge."

Company vehicles make up roughly half of the vehicles on the road today, which makes corporate adoption of electrtified vehicles a good starting point, Gunning said. LeasePlan counts 1.8 million vehicles leased to companies and operated by its own associates. The fleet management company has pledged to transition its employee fleet to electrified vehicles by 2021.

In 2017, 30 cities agreed to purchase 114,000 electrified cars and trucks worth more than $10 billion. The state of California has set aggressive purchasing targets for ZEVs in its fleet of 20,000 light-duty vehicles on its way to reach a 50% adoption of ZEVs by 2030. New York City has added 1,500 electrified vehicles to its fleet of 30,000 vehicles toward its goal of 2,000 electrified vehicles by 2025. In May, the city committed $10 million to expand its EV charging network to include level 3 fast chargers.