Europcar Mobility Group UK has revealed its latest successes to increase electric miles covered by its fleet.

A fleet of electric GWM Ora Funky Cat electric hatchbacks – now known as the Ora 03 – are being used by the company’s ‘hikers’

The business is working to dramatically slash its carbon footprint and an important part of the strategy is to increase the proportion of electric vehicles on its fleet. By year-end, 12% of the Europcar UK fleet will be electric and plug-in hybrid.

Europcar has also transformed vehicle usage for its Delivery & Collection service. A fleet of electric GWM Ora Funky Cat electric hatchbacks – now known as the Ora 03 – are being used by the company’s ‘hikers’, who take vehicles to customers and collect them at the end of the rental. These complement electric bikes that were first introduced to Europcar locations in 2022. As a result, for the stations that have access to electric runner vehicles, EV miles account for 39% of all mileage.

The new approach has seen Europcar complete 362,377 EV miles from January 2022 to end October 2023, with runner vehicles equating to 92 tonnes of CO2 saved.

Mark Newberry, commercial director and sustainability spokesperson at Europcar Mobility Group UK, said: “At Europcar we are committed to providing our customers with the most convenient service possible, which goes to the heart of our Delivery & Collection service. By delivering vehicles to customers – and collecting them at the end of the rental – we are reducing the journeys they need to make, as well as enhancing business productivity. It is, however, important that we find ways to reduce the environmental impact of this service. The addition of electric vehicles for more of our locations for ‘hikers’ delivering and collecting customer vehicles is key to achieving this goal.

“The combination of the Ora Funky Cats and electric bikes for our operations means we can get our ‘hikers’ back to our stations after a vehicle drop-off, and to a customer for collection at the end of a rental without adding to the carbon footprint. For the stations where electric vehicles are being used, 39% of delivery and collection miles are now electric and we expect this to increase exponentially over the coming months.”