The new fleet, which supports the work of the University’s Estates and Commercial Services team, comprises ten new electric vehicles including delivery vans and a tractor. This is the first phase of achieving an entirely electric fleet, with seven remaining vehicles to be replaced in the near future.
With a range of 162 miles/ 257 kilometres on a full charge, which is typical performance for one of the vans, it is estimated that the switch to electric vehicles will help decrease the institution’s long-term carbon footprint by almost 17,000kg tonnes of carbon dioxide per annum.
Sally McGill, Chief Financial Officer, and Executive Lead for Sustainability at Staffordshire University said, “We are delighted to welcome our new electric vehicle fleet onto campus. With transportation one of the largest carbon-emitting sectors of the economy, Electric Vehicles have a huge role to play in a net zero carbon future.”
“The move towards a greener campus vehicle fleet is an important milestone along the University’s sustainability journey to being a net zero University by 2030. The fleet builds on the University’s commitments to building a sustainable future across its campuses whilst also addressing regional sustainability issues surrounding air pollution from road vehicles in urban areas.”
Helen Rutherford, Head of Campus Facilities Management at Staffordshire University added, “With an electric vehicle charging infrastructure in place across our Stoke-on-Trent and Stafford campuses, the next step was to start to make our campus fleet electric. As well as supporting the University’s sustainability agenda, the new fleet enables our University team to be more effective on-site.”
“As electric vehicle technology continues to expand and develop, we are hoping that the remaining non-electric vehicles within the fleet will be able to make the switch in the near future too.”
In the last 12 months, over 30 electric vehicle charging points, run by Vend Electric, have been added to Staffordshire University’s College Road and Leek Road sites in Stoke-on-Trent and its Centre for Health Innovation campus in Stafford.
The network of charging points aims to support the growing number of people within the University’s community who now use energy-efficient electric vehicles. The new estates fleet will utilise this network of chargers ensuring maximum use of the points on campus each day.
Find out more about Electric Vehicle Charging at Staffordshire University.