Electric vehicle fleet a success: “It’s about daring”
Published: April 19, 2022, 10:43With a climate-neutral business by the year 2030 as an ambitious goal, the transition to an electric vehicle fleet is an important piece of the puzzle for Elis Textil Service. – We work purposefully and structured to increase the proportion of electric cars, says Purchasing Manager Patrik Nyholm .Greenlease – We make it easy to choose environmentally friendlyElis is Europe’s largest company in textile and hygiene solutions. The business model is based on renting out textiles to businesses in, among other things, industry, healthcare, the hotel and restaurant industry. – The ever-increasing climate footprint of textile consumption is estimated to account for a quarter of global greenhouse gas emissions by the middle of the century. Our business model extends the life of garments and textiles, reduces unnecessary new production and is better for the climate and environment, says Patrik Nyholm, Purchasing Manager at Elis Sweden. In other words, sustainability is inscribed in the company’s DNA. In 2030, Elis Sweden’s operations will be climate neutral and in 2035 there will be net zero emissions throughout the value chain. The washing plants switch to biogas oil, pellets and chip-based energy where the opportunity for those investments exists.
Expanded cooperation to Norway and Denmark
With a vehicle fleet of around 550 vehicles, transport is a large part of the business. When the company signed its first agreement with Autolease in 2015, all vehicles were fossil-fueled. Today, about 13 percent are electric cars and 15 percent plug-in hybrids. As far as possible, diesel-powered vehicles run on fossil-free HVO 100. The fact that Autolease was chosen as a partner has several reasons: – The total cost is always important. At the same time, it is crucial to have a partner who can assist with advice and find solutions that work throughout Sweden. And it has worked so well that we have now also expanded our cooperation to Eli’s operations in Norway and Denmark. Autolease is also an important partner in our green transition in our neighboring countries.
Patrik Nyholm is Purchasing Manager at Elis Sweden. In Denmark, a third of Elis’ company cars will be plug-in hybrids at the end of the year, and after that they will start switching to electric cars. For the larger cars, a conversion to HVO 100 is underway. In Norway, almost all vehicles are plug-in hybrids and the transition to electric cars has begun, as for the company’s vans.
More than just leasing cars
Autolease assignments consist of much more than just leasing out the cars that the customer wants. – We work a lot with advice and keep track of what is happening in the market – and it happens a lot now. We also do recurring cost analyzes, explains Magnus Berggren, customer manager for large accounts at Autolease. For Patrik Nyholm, the close contact is a valuable part of Eli’s sustainability work: – We have a close dialogue with Autolease. Right now it is as a consequence of the pandemic and the world situation, major delivery problems, and then Autolease helps us find solutions. From time to time, it feels as if Magnus is part of the company. A big help in Eli’s work against zero emissions is the monthly statistics the company receives from Autolease. Here you can see exactly how many kilowatt hours have been charged during the past month, as well as how many liters of HVO 100 and petrol and diesel have been refueled. But there are also some challenges with switching to electric vehicles, such as the cars’ battery capacity. you a day stage with the day’s reach. But when you fill a distribution car with maximum load, the range decreases. Then you can not manage the day-to-day operation on a single charge, especially not north of Dalälven, states Magnus Berggren. However, the development is fast. – It has gone faster on the passenger car side, but now a lot also happens when it comes to light trucks.
Electric car park is a competitive advantage
Elis also seeks its own solutions. At the loading dock at the facility in Veddesta north of Stockholm, they are currently the first company in Sweden to install charging via a rail in the ground. In this way, the cars can charge quickly while reloading. Among Eli’s drivers, the reactions over the electric cars are positive. Not least when it comes to the three new, electric trucks: – They are quiet, agile and have better acceleration. The drivers are lyrical and would like to drive electrically, says Patrik Nyholm. That an electric car fleet can be a competitive advantage has also become clear. Many customers today demand a fossil-free business: – We recently won a procurement with the City of Stockholm, because we as the only company could deliver not only one hundred percent fossil-free, but also one hundred percent electric power, says Patrik Nyholm. Elis has recently ordered nine vans with longer range and higher load capacity that has just been released on the market. – It’s about daring. Many people are hesitant to test, over time, untested techniques and vehicles, but we do not have time to wait. We must all take our responsibility and make the changes needed to achieve the global goals.Try the country’s smartest car leasing
About Autolease
Autolease is part of Norwegian DNB Bank, the Nordic region’s second largest banking group, which owns a total of over 400,000 vehicles. In Scandinavia, Autolease administers and leases more than 40,000 cars and buys over 12,000 new cars every year. Autolease offers passenger cars and light trucks and can supply all car makes and models. Greenlease is a clear concept in Autolease product where all customers are given the opportunity for needs analysis, advice and follow-up of the existing fleet of vehicles to accelerate the transition to more sustainable mobility. The article is produced by Brand Studio in collaboration with Autolease DNB and not an article by Dagens industri
