Fleet e-loaded: LeasePlan leads the way on electromobility
When it comes to electric transport, the future is already here. In practice, however, many executives and fleet operators are unsure about how to integrate electric vehicles into their existing vehicle fleet in a meaningful and profitable way. This question brought plenty of visitors to the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute in Rüschlikon for LeasePlan's "Fuhrpark e-loaded" ("Fleet e-loaded") event yesterday afternoon. The event brought together LeasePlan Switzerland Managing Director Nigel Storny and a panel of e-mobility experts for a discussion.
"E-mobility is what everyone is talking about at the moment. Many companies don't fully appreciate the many advantages of switching to electric vehicles yet. In line with our slogan 'What's next', we want to raise awareness of this as part of today's event, because making the switch is already worthwhile," LeasePlan Switzerland Managing Director Nigel Storny explained yesterday to numerous guests as he introduced the "Fleet e-loaded" e-mobility event. More than 40 executives and fleet operators accepted the fleet management company LeasePlan (Switzerland) AG's invitation to the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute. Well-known experts including David Bosshart, CEO of the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute for Economy and Society, Florian Herrmann, Head of the "Competence Center Mobility Innovation" at the Fraunhofer Institute in Stuttgart and Ulf Schulte, Operations Director at Allego, spoke about the advantages and opportunities of the change, not only for private individuals, but also for companies.
Full speed ahead towards the future
Making the move from the classic combustion engine to e-mobility is inevitable, according to Peter Kokaroski, e-mobility expert at LeasePlan: "In many cases, e-vehicles can already meet a company's mobility needs just as well as conventional petrol or diesel fleets. The charging infrastructure has also seen plenty of progress in recent years, as e-vehicle drivers can now access a nationwide charging network here in Switzerland. These are the ideal conditions to start integrating electromobility into existing fleets." And it's a step worth taking: as well as sustainable fleet operation and the related cost savings, making this pioneering move gives the image of the company, and the employer, a boost, adds Commercial Director Bernd Bäzner.
E-mobility at our fingertips
Event participants were able to try out the look and feel of electric vehicles for themselves: 14 e-models (both cars and light commercial vehicles) were available from BMW, Citroën, Hyundai, Kia, Nissan, Opel, Peugeot, Renault, Tesla and Volkswagen for them to test drive. There was plenty of interest and visitors took a spin in the electric vehicles around the Gottlieb Duttweiler Institute a total of 51 times. "The many benefits speak for themselves and gradually integrating electromobility into individual vehicle fleets makes sense for almost every company, if knowledge and foresight are applied. In urban areas, it's already possible for every company fleet to go electric", says Kokaroski. "Commercial vehicles are the only area where electromobility still has limitations, but we will also see plenty of progress here in the next few years."
