Vinci offers employees electric vehicles

Vinci Construction UK and Vinci Facilities is to offer employees an electric vehicle (EV) option at every grade of company car allowance, as the firm took delivery of six new Polestar 2s for its senior team last week.

Another seven EVs are on order for the firm’s headquarters, as Vinci’s senior team attempt to lead by example. The Chinese-made Polestar 2 has a starting on-the-road price of £46,900 and can go from 0-60mph in fewer than five seconds.

The contractor is offering employees eligible for a company car to make the switch to an EV provided they park their new car off road at their home address for ease of charging and drive fewer than 40,000 km (or 25,000 miles) on the road each year. Vehicles available range from the Polestar through to a Vauxhall Corsa.

Vinci expects as many as 100 EVs to be delivered to the business by the first quarter of 2021. The Polestar 2 (pictured) chosen by senior teams has a WLTP (Worldwide Harmonised Light-vehicle Test Procedure) range of 292 miles with a 78-kwh dual motor and is four-wheel drive.

Vinci Construction UK is working with Actemium, part of Vinci Energies, to install fast chargers to its offices and Pod Point have been installing home charging points for employees at home. The company now plans to target the commercial vehicle fleet.

VINCI Construction UK’s plant and fleet director, Andrew Thomsett, said: “The Polestar saves money as well as carbon as we benefit from the government grant available and we are immediately removing traditional fossil fuelled vehicles from the fleet. We want to make the switch to EVs as easy as possible for our people and the fleet team have been helping them on this journey by providing step by step guides to help them make the right choice for their working life and driving behaviours.”

Julian Gatward, managing director of Taylor Woodrow, the civil engineering division of VINCI Construction UK, said: “We have made a commitment not just to cut our emissions as a business, but to do so by going electric and not hybrid. It’s hard to predict the short-term impact on our CO2 emissions but if we pursue the strategy across cars and vans, we will make a significant cutover time.”

Tony Raikes, managing director of Vinci Facilities, said: “A significant proportion of our vans and cars are due for replacement in the next two years.  We have the EV plan for cars in place and now in VINCI Facilities we are looking at options to switch our diesel or petrol vans to EVs in the next three year. The switch to an EV car and van fleet requires investment in supporting infrastructure and training as well as setting up home charging for our people to use so it is as easy as possible. Making the switch away from diesel and petrol transport is the right thing to do, but it has to be done in a way that works and that means helping everyone see the benefits environmentally, socially and operationally.”