Sky UK has more than quadrupled its electric vehicle fleet year-on-year in line with business plans to go net zero by 2030.
Working with Lex Autolease, Sky UK introduced 29 pure EVs in 2020 and it’s already added a further 60 this year, with an additional 72 due for delivery in the coming months.
Electric vehicles in operation include the Kia e-Niro and the Renault Kangoo Z.E., which make up 60% of the business’s EV fleet. These are being used by colleagues across the business, including the Sky News team when filming on location, sales teams and company managers.
Vehicles have been chosen on the basis of a whole-life cost policy developed by Lex for Sky and including a full service and maintenance package which will help reduce running costs and minimise vehicle downtime.
Sky’s work to go zero-emission on its fleet by 2030 has also seen it deploy Ford Transit Custom plug-in hybrids after the business took part in a 12-month trial of the Transit Custom PHEVs in London.
The work on electric vehicles builds on Sky’s existing partnership with Lex Autolease, which stretches back to 2012. It has a fleet of more than 4,000 vehicles, which is made up of over 600 company cars and 3,500 LCVs.
Oliver Wanklyn, senior fleet operations manager at Sky UK, said: “As we look towards the future, we wanted to work with Lex Autolease to speed up our transition to a net-zero fleet.
“Our long-standing partnership of nine years meant they really understood our ambitions and have helped us to start achieving them while keeping our business on the road.
“The team worked with us to develop a sustainable fleet solution that will not only save us money but ensure our fleet is heading in the right direction and is in line with our broader sustainability strategy of being a zero-emission fleet by 2030.”
Lex Autolease said that sustainability is fast becoming more important for companies of all sizes.
Craig Mason, customer relationship manager at Lex Autolease, continued: “Although green fleet transformation won’t happen overnight, a steady transition can help businesses strike the balance between fulfilling their sustainable ambitions and keeping their business on the road.
“Sky UK has always had its foot on the pedal when it comes to sustainability. But, as it looked to accelerate its net-zero efforts, we were on hand to offer the best solutions and show how they could add alternatively fuelled vehicles to their fleet while cutting costs. The reduced fuel consumption and lower service and maintenance costs associated with an EV all contribute to a lower whole-life cost for your fleet overall.”
