AkzoNobel, a decorative paints and performance coatings producer, cut its U.K. car fleet’s overall carbon emissions by 47% in 18 months with the help of fleet management provider Arval U.K.

The company, which operates 359 cars and 266 vans in the U.K., developed a fleet strategy to support the corporate global target of a 50% reduction in CO2 emissions by 2030. The plan also aims to meet company car drivers’ growing demand electric vehicles (EVs).

“We knew that we needed to increasingly electrify the fleet in order to meet sustainability and colleague satisfaction objectives,” AkzoNobel’s U.K. Fleet Manager, Karl Allward said. “However, we wanted to make this a relatively natural process over time, rather than suddenly stipulating that drivers should drive certain types of cars and vans. To meet these objectives, we turned to Arval UK to help us create a template for future action.”

EV Choices Expanded

Primary among AkzoNobel’s objectives for its U.K. fleet was providing drivers a robust selection of EVs and plug-in hybrids, along with existing gas and diesel models.

The issue to balance, according to Ben Edwards, Arval UK consultant, was the low lease costs and higher running expense for gas and diesel vehicles versus higher lease price and more economical operating costs with EVs and plug-ins.

The answer, said Edwards, was in adopting a “whole life cost approach,” which provided an accurate overall view of fleet running costs, including servicing, maintenance, national insurance and business fuel.

Electric Vans Tested

Seeking to also electrify its light commercial vehicle fleet, AkzoNobel tested three electric vans using Arval’s Flex EV, an electric mid-term rental product, using telematics to assess the vehicles’ operations in real-world conditions.

According to Allward, the eLCV range and payload proved “a good fit” for the company’s decorator centers’ localized delivery routes. He did note, however, using eLCVs did need greater consideration because the company vehicle payloads tended to be heavy, bearing directly on driving range. The fleet will add electric vans into lower stress roles in the short to medium term, before investing in full electrification by 2030.

The AkzoNobel U.K. car fleet now includes 30 EVs, 52 hybrids and 40 plug-in hybrids, as well as an order bank of 138 vehicles, of which more than 90% are electrified.

The company has installed chargers at corporate offices and stores and has established new reimbursement measures to “make it as easy as possible to reclaim for home charging costs, an “essential” corporate view, said Allward.