How Running a Green Fleet Can End Up Saving Your Business Money

Running a green fleet is beneficial in many different ways. Not only are you helping the environment by reducing your emissions, but you could end up saving money as well. Fleet car insurance brokers often offer a reduced price for eco-friendly drivers’ premiums. Here, we’ll look into green fleets and why they can make a significant difference to the world and your business costs.

What Makes a Green Fleet?

A green fleet is a group of eco-friendly vehicles that produce fewer harmful emissions than their petrol or diesel counterparts. Whether they are powered by biofuels, electricity or a hybrid of oil and electric-powered engines, they are generally smaller and less powerful, therefore presenting less of a risk.

No matter what type of industry you operate in that utilises a fleet – courier, builder, or even a mobile beautician business – you can benefit from a green fleet.

There are many types of eco-friendly vehicle to choose from, all offering different benefits. Some include:

  • Ultra-low emission vehicle (ULEV)
    ULEVs produce a very small amount of carbon monoxide (less than 75g per kilometre) and can drive for some distance without releasing any C02 at all
  • Electric vehicle (EV)
    EVs are fully electric cars that use batteries which can be charged at charge points around the UK. The most well-known electric vehicle brand is Tesla, but there are other hybrid vehicles available from brands such as Nissan and Kia.
  • Fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV)
    FCEVs do not release any type of emission from the exhaust pipe as they use hydrogen and oxygen to create electricity. They are not widely used due to charge points not being as prevalent as they are for other types of vehicle
  • Hybrids
    Hybrid cars have a small battery that is charged by coasting and braking while being driven, meaning they have shorter distances of electric range.

So many businesses can benefit from these types of vehicles, and your fleet does not have to consist only of eco-cars. You can start small and scale up your fleet as you start to notice the savings regarding both your fleet car insurance and overheads.

 

Tips for Saving on Your Fleet Car Insurance

There are a number of other ways you can reduce the cost of your insurance premium, regardless of the types of vehicles in your fleet.

For example, you could try telematics or black boxes in your vehicles to record the state of your employees’ driving. This data can be communicated to your insurance broker, showing that they drive safely and therefore present less of a risk on the road.

Similarly, boosting security measures – locking fleet vehicles in a garage or building at night, installing a tracking device or steering wheel lock, for example – will lessen the risk and therefore help reduce your premium.

Going Green & Fleet Car Insurance

Your fleet car insurance could be significantly influenced by your efforts to go green. As we mentioned above, environmentally-friendly cars are smaller and not as powerful. This means they are less dangerous to drive and therefore present less of a risk to other road users. As insurance is calculated by risk, this means you will pay less for your premiums.

Drivers of eco-cars pay less road tax, less expensive fuel and less on their insurance, often up to 5% off! There are also some fleet car insurance brokers that might counterbalance the emissions your car puts with a series of schemes like tree planting or giving money to environmental organisations.

How Can You Start the Process of Going Green With Your Fleet

If you’ve decided to upgrade your fleet, then there may be government grants and tax incentives that can help incentivise your purchase.

Fleet managers should research the current schemes and grants available, as well as the tax incentives to make sure you are maximising the cost savings.

Over to you now. Have you changed your fleet to be a greener one? Any tips to share? Tell us in the comments below.

Source: business-achievers.com