Northgate’s Drive to Zero programme receives major Business Car fleet industry award

 

Northgate Vehicle Hire’s Drive to Zero fleet electrification programme received a major industry accolade at last night’s Business Car Awards 2022.

 

It won the headline Editor’s Choice award from Business Car editor Martyn Collins who congratulated Northgate on successfully supporting its fleet customers on their electrification journey.

 

He said: “Northgate launched the Drive to Zero to provide customers with a full suite of solutions designed to aid fleets’ transition to electric vehicles, and it has proved a huge success.

 

“By transforming into a specialist B2B customer-centric mobility provider, they have built the foundations for their electrification journey, alongside those of their customers,” he added.

 

Business Car described it as a ‘particularly hard-fought category’ with Northgate competing against companies from across the UK fleet industry.

 

“We are extremely proud of this award for our Drive to Zero programme which we have developed to make fleet electrification as seamless and pain free as possible for all our customers,” said Neil McCrossan, Northgate Vehicle Hire’s sales and marketing director.

 

“We would like to thank Business Car for this recognition, which is all the more satisfying as we were competing against the entire fleet industry,” he added.

 

Drive to Zero comprises five key elements to ensure a seamless transition to electric LCVs for all businesses.

 

Step One: A thorough fleet analysis is the first step in any EV transition through the interrogation of telematics and other data. It enables Northgate to build a complete understanding of vehicles, their movements, distances travelled and journey times, to decide which routes can be immediately switched to electric power and which ones will come on-stream in the future.

 

Step Two: Vehicle choice is key for successful fleet management and Northgate, works closely with OEMs to constantly add to an industry-leading range of electric LCVs to its fleet.

 

Step Three: Northgate has a full suite of EV training modules available to help drivers adopt new driving techniques to optimise EV range. These are free to all EV customers.

 

Step Four: Northgate works with leading EV charging installation experts, ChargedEV to ensure that whether a customer needs to consider workplace charging, home charging or even public charging facilities, the best possible solution can be found. This includes infrastructure planning.

 

Step Five: Northgate’s team of EV fleet specialists help fleets develop and implement robust transition plans, which are bespoke for each customer. The proposition is designed to let fleets focus on their core business, whilst Northgate focuses on running their vehicles.

 

Northgate has fully trained EV technicians in each of its workshops to keep EVs maintained and serviced. Their Fleet Management service ensures that Northgate can look after a customer’s entire e-fleet, however they have acquired them.