Driven by a necessity for a cleaner mobility system, electric vehicles (EVs) have emerged as the future of transportation and represent exciting opportunities for the UK.  Today’s news article marks the start of our new EV series, “Electrifying the Future” where, over the next ten weeks we will be exploring the EV landscape in more detail.

Did you know that air pollution is now the top environmental risk to human health in the UK, and the fourth greatest threat to public health after cancer, heart disease and obesity?

The biggest issue we face is pollution from vehicles and health researchers at King’s College say pollution causes 9,500 premature deaths each year in the capital city.

As part of his vision for a quieter, cleaner London, in April this year the capital’s Mayor, Sadiq Khan launched the Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ), the toughest emissions charged zone in any big city in the world and from October 2021 the ULEZ is set to expand out to the North and South Circular roads.

Transport is currently a major unsustainable source of energy use owing to a nearly complete dependence on liquid fossil fuels.  But the electric vehicle revolution is set to change the course of history and play a critical role in our fight against climate change.

Ever since Henry Ford and Thomas Edison worked on projects involving cars and the electricity that made it possible to build them, people have predicted a new era of ‘green’ electric motoring and now the electric vehicle revolution is finally hitting the road.

The role of fleets

Private fleet vehicles make up over half of new vehicle sales in the UK and as such the fleet sector has the potential to significantly help speed up EV uptake in the UK.

The business case for commercial fleets to go electric is getting stronger as advances in technology reduce the costs and UK companies search for viable solutions to the growing urbanization and environmental challenges the country is facing.

Deploying EVs in fleets will also help increase the uptake in the UK consumer market, with positive user experiences within fleets building wider confidence amongst consumers.

The road ahead is electric – are you ready for the electric revolution?

 

Stay tuned for part 2 next week, where we will be looking at the structure and key components of electric vehicles.