Carefully selected eVans, onsite training and detailed handover give council drivers a smooth journey to electric mobility
As part of its Climate Action Plan 2026-2030, the London Borough of Camden has partnered with Europcar Mobility Group UK to cut its fleet emissions as it moves towards being a net-zero borough by 2030. Working together the two organisations identified that a large proportion of the car derived and short-wheelbase van fleet operated by Camden could immediately be replaced with battery electric alternatives.
With a clear focus on financial efficiency, Camden did not want to commit to the usual fleet lease length of 3-5 years or purchasing vehicles outright. Europcar has therefore provided the local authority with a long-term flexible rental solution that ensures it has access to the right vehicles for its operational needs without the upfront costs seen in leasing or outright purchase.
Europcar worked with Camden throughout the planning and deployment process to identify what vehicles would best suit their operations. The first wave of eVans provided included the Renault Kangoo E-Tech, VW e-Transporter and Vauxhall Vivaro Electric, some fitted with equipment ranging from modular racking and roof bars and pipe carriers to steel tool vaults and Camden livery. The vehicles were delivered quickly and seamlessly despite a very tight deadline.
“Camden is committed to leading by example and addressing its own operational emissions,” commented Tom Middleditch, Head of B2B Marketing and Sustainability spokesperson at Europcar.
Critical to the success of the project has been the insight into vehicle usage that Europcar can deliver through its 100% connected fleet. While the Senior Management Team was fully on board with zero-emissions mobility, some drivers were less certain and shared concerns around range and suitability of eVans.
To help ease the transition from petrol and diesel to less familiar electric vans, and ensure drivers achieve the best performance, Europcar delivered training for the council’s drivers, covering a wide range of topics. These included practical information on charging, how to use regenerative braking to maximise range and how the weather and driving style impact range.
Insight from Europcar’s 100% fleet has also helped Camden overcome early doubts from drivers. “We worked closely with Camden to monitor use and driver feedback and have been able to quickly correct misunderstandings and inefficient charging habits that led to some concerns among drivers,” added Tom Middleditch.
“In the first few weeks of implementation, some drivers reported that they were having issues with the range of the eVans supplied and did not believe they were fit for purpose. However, by accessing real usage data from the vehicles supplied, the Europcar team could see the vans were actually performing well. On average the first 6 vehicles supplied covered 119 miles per week, which was well within the vehicles’ range. Plus, we could see that one user had charged their vehicle 14 times in one week. This was clearly a not surprising reaction to being asked to use a new drive train, but was not necessary.”
Europcar and Camden worked on a programme of training and support to address these concerns with the drivers, with the result that there have been no further issues raised. The data also identified a fault in some of Camden’s own charging points which the local authority was able to rectify.
As a result, Europcar has already been able to help Camden drastically reduce its mobility emissions. And following the early success of the project, it has added more electric vans to its fleet, with extremely positive feedback as a result.
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