ScottishPower has announced its plans to electrify its entire vehicle fleet under 3.5 tonnes within the next decade.

The green energy company – which only produces 100% renewable electricity – made the commitment as it launched its first fully electric commercial fleet vehicles.

The new electric vehicles (EVs) include ten Nissan eNV200 electric vans that will be used in communities across the country by SP Energy Networks as well as a new Pelican Yutong E10 electric bus – the first of its type in Scotland – for Whitelee Windfarm Visitor Centre.

Additional EV chargers have been put in place to support the roll-out of the new vehicles.

Representing investment of almost £1 million, the new EVs complement the existing fleet of electric pool cars and partial hybrid EV 4x4s already in use across ScottishPower. It marks the start of a major transition to electrify all 1,200 vehicles under 3.5 tonnes by 2030.

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The CO2 saving from the 11 new vehicles is expected to be in the region of 30,000 tonnes per year and will play an important role in making ScottishPower's own operations cleaner and greener in the lead-up to COP and beyond.

Gemma Rankine, ScottishPower's General Services Director, said: "As we work to reduce carbon emissions and achieve Net Zero targets, companies like ours must lead by example and show how we're making the transition to a cleaner and greener future a reality.

"Creating an all-electric commercial fleet is a hugely important piece of the jigsaw and sends a strong signal to industry about the actions we all must take now if we're to have any hope of achieving a zero-carbon future.

"This is just the latest step in our efforts to tackle the climate emergency, reduce our own emissions and show how we're becoming a more sustainable business. Fossil fuel generation is a thing of the past for ScottishPower and we're now on our way to making fossil fuel commercial vehicles obsolete too.

"That's a real achievement and one that will undoubtedly help deliver the cleaner, greener and better future we, our colleagues and our customers all want, quicker."

A further ten Nissan eNV200s and six Vauxhall Vivaro-e electric vans are expected to join the ScottishPower fleet in the next few months.