Centrica has unveiled an electric vehicle (EV) fleet charging management app, allowing more drivers to charge at home, something which it says was previously difficult to administer.
The new app, designed by Centrica Business Solutions, acts as a ‘virtual fuel card’ which can work with any standard charger. It features payroll integration which means it will automatically reimburse drivers wherever they charge their EV.
It can distinguish between fleet and private vehicles on the same charging point and will send fleet managers monthly statements showing all charging transactions.
Furthermore, the app includes tariff optimisation which allows the driver to schedule charging at times when energy costs are low. Centrica said this will enable commercial fleets to save thousands of pounds in annual charging costs.
It explained that charging a van running 11,000 miles a year using street charging would cost in the region of £2,000. This reduces to around £800 when charging at home during peak hours, and under £300 if charging at night using a variable tariff.
Centrica Business Solutions said it is working with a number of leasing providers to provide the fleet charging management system as part of an EV bundle, which includes charging infrastructure and installation by British Gas engineers.
British Gas, which recently announced plans to accelerate its transition to EVs, will be the first to utilise the technology.
John Hartley, director of product management at Centrica Business Solutions, said: “Many organisations that have a home-based workforce are looking to transition to EV. On street charging can be prohibitively expensive, so we are providing the technology that will allow more drivers to charge at home, which has previously been very difficult to administer.
“But, many commercial vehicle drivers won’t have access to offstreet parking so it’s important that we break down some of the barriers to access for public charging networks too, making it easier for drivers to charge at home, at the workplace, or on the road.”
Steve Winter, head of fleet for British Gas, said: “We have begun taking delivery of the first of 3,000 new Vauxhall Vivaro-e vans, which will form the largest electrified van fleet in the UK.
“To ensure our colleagues are able to charge cost effectively, we’ve begun to roll out home charging points to our fleet EV drivers. This virtual fuel card solution means it’s not just cheaper than petrol and diesel vehicles in terms of fuel costs, it is also easier to administer.”