Electric mobility is also spreading in the business world. New zero-emission fleets, leased electric cars for executives and representatives, charging points in company car parks. There are many ways to adapt to the current electric revolution and many different reasons for to do so: from a desire to reduce one’s carbon footprint to improving one’s image, from wanting to help implement the transition to achieving concrete savings of money and resources.

MANY BENEFITS 

The benefits of pursuing a corporate electric mobility policy are numerous and are distributed among the different players in the business system.
For companies, it is an investment that provides significant energy savings within a few years. “We only had to replace our van with an electric car”, says Ugo Cuncu, founder of the Eneroad event, and amongst the pioneers of Italian Emobility, “to lower the cost of the vehicle, with the same number of kilometres travelled, by about €5,000 per year. Money that we can use elsewhere”.

But employees also become beneficiaries of a choice of mobility aimed at moving away from fossil fuels.
They know this well at Sofidel, a household and toilet paper manufacturer that implemented a car-sharing fleet in 2017 by purchasing 4 electric cars that can be used by employees, even during their leisure time.
But not only that: thanks to the agreement with automotive company Nissan, employees receive specific benefits when purchasing electric vehicles and are able to charge their vehicle free for one year at one of the nine charging points installed within two plants. “And this”, says Luigi Lazzareschi, Managing Director of the Sofidel Group, “is a way to look at the future by developing awareness of the use of environmentally sustainable means and collaboration systems which are more efficient and more consistent with current social needs”.

ELECTRIC CHARGING POINTS IN COMPANY CAR PARKS

But the benefits of electric mobility in companies come from the installation of electric charging points in company car parks. As well as the ability to take advantage of their car charging service, thus getting the greatest possible benefit out of their visit, visitors and customers have the perception of being in a state-of-the-art company that cares about the environment and about its workers.

To conclude, is installing charging points at your company location more convenient in terms of savings, supporting certain lifestyles or improving your image? “I think it’s the right mix”, concludes Ugo Cuncu. “We have always encouraged our customers, our suppliers, and in particular our employees, not only to charge their electric cars at our premises, but even to use corporate electrical vehicles to go home and to show them and demonstrate them to as many people as possible. The savings are obvious; employees end up sharing the importance of sustainability because they experience it first-hand and it benefits the image. But all this happens only if there is consistency and loyalty. Only if customers perceive this continuity will they form a relationship of listening and trust”.

An integrated approach to electric mobility in companies is also a powerful lever in improving the parameters reported in sustainability reports. The lower amount of CO2 emitted through more sustainable mobility helps to reduce one of the most penalising costs of a company’s environmental sustainability. This is confirmed by E.ON, a European renewable energy company, which has launched an innovative sharing experiment to engage and involve its employees in a new way of travelling and has made gains by lowering CO₂ emissions.
Through the Moving@E.ON initiative, by internally sharing electric vehicles, in 1 year employees avoid 16 tonnes of CO₂ emissions, travelling a total of more than 100,000 km, in a completely sustainable way, with the 5 electric cars available.

A “win win” choice that works for everyone, especially the environment. 

Andrea Bertaglio