Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 18th April 2024 Issue no. 1110
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Mitie celebrates electric vehicle milestone in Edinburgh - but calls for additional infrastructure
Mitie has delivered the 100th and 101st electric vehicles (EVs) to join its fleet to two contracts in Edinburgh.
A first for both Edinburgh Castle and Fife College, Mitie colleagues at each site have received their brand new fully electric vans, which will be used every day as part of their roles.
Edinburgh was identified as the first location to receive Mitie's initial delivery of electric vans to support the city's commitment to be zero-carbon by 2030, which aligns with Mitie's own commitment to a fully electric fleet by 2030. Meanwhile, both Edinburgh Castle and Fife College were also natural choices as the first recipients of the new EVs as sustainability is a real focus of Mitie's in each of these contracts.
At Edinburgh Castle Mitie has a specialist cleaning contract with Historic Environment Scotland. This work includes keeping many of Scotland's most loved landmarks spic and span, covering more than 50 ancient monuments such as Stirling Castle and Melrose Abbey. For Fife College, Mitie provides both cleaning and waste management services. Given that this work requires travel between five different sites, the zero-emission van will boost the College's eco-credentials.
The two vans join the electric cars Mitie has already deployed in Scotland, everywhere from Glasgow and Crieff, to the Isle of Arran - meaning more than 10% of Mitie's EVs are now based in Scotland. While Scotland is a natural choice for Mitie's EV rollout, thanks to the fact that in many cases public charging is free, outside of major towns and cities, there is a significant absence of charge point infrastructure in Scotland, making an EV prohibitive. As Mitie works for clients in every corner of the country, it is calling on local councils throughout Scotland to rapidly increase the number of rapid electric vehicle charge points in suburban and rural areas, to support an even faster EV rollout.
The electric vans have been delivered as part of Mitie's commitment to switch 20% of its car and small van fleet to electric by the end of 2020. With more than 100 electric vehicles already on the fleet and a further 400 set to join by the first half of next year, Mitie is well on track to meet this pledge and achieve its ambition of running the largest British fleet of EVs.
"When it came to finding our new electric vans a home, Edinburgh was the natural choice," reveals Simon King, fleet and procurement director, Mitie. "We're proud to play our part in helping the city achieve its goal of becoming zero-carbon and introducing the first electric vehicles to Edinburgh Castle and Fife College.
"However, to help us spread our electric fleet even further, we need Local Councils across Scotland, from towns and cities to the rural countryside, to support the adoption of EVs by increasing the number of rapid charge points throughout the country."
31st October 2019