How Hotpoint UK are transitioning their fleet to electric with Ford Pro™
We have 850 service vans across UK and Ireland. 40 of those are Ford E-Transits for our service engineers to go out and fix appliances at customers’ houses. When it comes to choosing electric vans, it’s about the trim level. It’s about a comfort, but it’s also massively about the range.
It was our Ford Account manager that started it off. So essentially we trialled everything that we could get our hands on across all different brands. The E-Transit was the one that stood out. We liked how it drove. It drives like a car.
At one stage we thought it was going to be too big. When people talk about Transits, they think of a massive, massive, great van. It wasn’t until we saw an L2 H2 we realized that it’s 20 centimeters difference between that and a Ford Custom.
So the reason we went for home charging is it’s just the nature of our business. Our drivers don’t work from depots. If you’ve got a vehicle that’s got good range, then that driver, if he’s doing 25, 30 miles in a day,*
He only needs to charge once a week so he can charge external. However, if you’re doing 100 miles plus, you need to regularly charge and it becomes too expensive to go external. So the investment in a home charger makes sense.
And then we also have the BlueOval™ network, and that gives you the ability to charge at BP and Shell. If our guys are needing to charge, they’re not going to be sitting there for 40, 50 minutes. They want the fastest charge. And it’s what I call a splash and dash.
It’s literally put enough in to get you home to charge at a cheaper rate at your house. We wouldn’t be in a position now where we have electric vans had we not extensively tested them
With engineers because at the end of day, I don’t drive a van every day. It’s our engineers that make the difference. They’re the guys that are going to drive these vehicles every single day. [How you doing my man]. Hello, how are you?
This is a Nerijus. He’s one of our service engineers and my product champion. And EV champion and overall, just super hero. Nerijus, how are you finding the E-Transit? Well, I love it. I like everything about electric. I like the way it drives. It drives like a car. It’s… it’s super silent. It’s comfortable.
Plus as E-Transit, it has more extras than any diesel vans I’ve driven before. It has heated seats, it has heated windscreen, heated wing mirrors. Very good reversing cameras. So it just it just makes our life easier.
We created a group with all of the EV drivers so they can communicate and they can help each other and support each other and show each other new tricks and tips on how to get the best out of your range,
How to pre-condition your cabin area, and just general, like, niceties of driving E-Transits. Plus, I’m very into technology, so I like to know everything about it. I try to find any information I can, so we’re constantly sharing things,
Competitions, maybe who’s going to get better mileage out of it and things like that. And you educated me as well. So when we was going through the whole process of trialling these vehicles, he was coming and educating me and explaining to me, this is how I get it … I’ve tried it now
With all of the electronics on and this is what I’m getting and this is the range I’m getting every day. The weather has this slight impact, so it’s been really, really useful. We had Ford Essentials for vehicle health.** We’ve now transitioned all of those vehicles over to Ford Pro™ Telematics.^
So we now have one system where we can see the vehicle health, we can make sure that the drivers have got a full charge every night. If for any reason I need to, or I have a driver ring me up and say I can’t find a charger,
I do have the ability to go in, pinpoint his location, and then divert him in the direction of a charger. The range we’re still seeing even in the colder temps now — so we’re getting to mornings that are less than ten degrees — we’re still seeing 130–140 miles.^^
Going from a diesel Custom to E-Transit, the racking that we’ve had for many, many years wasn’t transferable. Problem we had in the past, is obviously most vans are ply lined… The issue with that is you have to drill through the floor in order to bolt it up.
So we can’t do that if we’ve got lots of batteries sitting underneath the floor, right? So, we partnered with Sortimo and they were able to give us this fancy flooring with the pins that come up and obviously locates onto your normal sort of structural places in the side of the van.
So it just basically meant no drilling, no messing around. So yeah, the transition from diesel vans to electric isn’t without its challenges, but it’s interesting. It’s exciting. It’s something completely different from the norm.
So the plan is just to keep doing what we’re doing and transitioning bit by bit over the coming years. And I’m fortunate I work for a business that is very keen on our green credentials◊ and have supported me in being able to transition our fleet over to electric.
So for me I genuinely …I really enjoy it. I think it’s a great and almost noble cause to try and improve the air quality around us by making sure we have vehicles that produce less CO2 emissions.
*FordPass App, compatible with select smartphone platforms, is available via a download. Message and data rates may apply. **Ford Pro™ Telematics Essentials is available only for Ford vehicles with an activated FordPass Connect modem. Eligible fleet/business customers only. Ford Pro™ Fleet Marketplace T&Cs apply. Screen designs may vary.
^Ford Pro™ Telematics is available for Ford vehicles with a FordPass Connect modem or an eligible 3rd party Plug-In Device (product features may vary). Eligible fleet/business customers only. Subscription charges and Ford Pro™ Fleet Marketplace T&Cs apply. Screen designs may vary.
^^Based on 390 Series L2 H2 with full charge. Estimated range using Worldwide Harmonised Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP). Figures shown are for comparability purposes and should only be compared with other vehicles tested to the same technical procedures. Actual range varies with conditions such as external elements like temperature, driving behaviours, route profile, vehicle maintenance, and lithium-ion battery age and condition. 166-mile/267km WLTP Extra High range reflects motorway driving and 196 mile/316km WLTP Overall Range reflects a combined driving cycle– both tests are conducted in controlled conditions with an ambient temperature of 23 degrees Celsius and no climate or electrical load.
◊link to sustainability pages https://www.hotpoint.co.uk/innovation/our-sustainability-strategy
Ford Pro™ is supporting fleet customers on their journey to electric. By sharing experiences, we hope to help other businesses on the same path. Here, our customer Hotpoint UK shares their EV Journey.
We understand that every business is unique, with their own challenges and trajectories, and the shift to electric isn’t just about switching vehicles. It’s a transition that can impact working practices and culture, not just infrastructure and assets.
So, while we’re all working towards an electrified future, there are many different stories being made along the way.
To help tell those stories and, we hope, inspire others on the same path, we spent some time with our fleet customer Hotpoint at their HQ in Peterborough.
Hotpoint UK is the market leader for large domestic appliances. They service major brands including Hotpoint and Indesit with a nationwide fleet of around 850 vans driven by their engineers. Forty of those vehicles are now Ford E-Transits.
Fleet manager Cole Pemberton is a self-confirmed petrol head, EV driver, and very much Hotpoint’s electric champion. He’s also a pragmatist: Electrification is happening, so the best time to start is now.
About Ford Pro™:
We’ve put everything fleet managers need in one place, from vehicle maintenance and software to financing. Connected and delivered by the people who know your vehicles the best. Ford Pro makes running and maintaining commercial vehicles refreshingly simple with five core services that are designed to maximise uptime: Vehicles, Software, Charging, Service and Financing (1). We know that there is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to running a business, so our services are adaptable to your fleet size and specific needs.
#Ford #FordPro #TransitCustom
(1) Subject to finance/business type/business size or similar. Paid subscription may apply.
After year 1 BlueOval™ Charge Network subscription is £2.49 / €2.99 per month per vehicle.
Ford Pro™ Telematics Essentials is available only for Ford vehicles with an activated FordPass Connect modem. Eligible fleet/business customers only. Ford Pro™ Fleet Marketplace T&Cs apply. Screen designs may vary.
Ford Pro™ Telematics is available for Ford vehicles with a FordPass Connect modem or an eligible 3rd party Plug-In Device (product features may vary). Eligible fleet/business customers only. Subscription charges and Ford Pro™ Fleet Marketplace T&Cs apply. Screen designs may vary.
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