Specialist fire protection contractor Sharpfibre has now gone all-electric for its fleet of company cars with new Tesla Model 3s provided by Gofor Finance.

Sharpfibre has selected nine Long Range Tesla 3 models for project managers and sales people, and one Performance model for the managing director

The company, which operates a fleet of 10 company cars and 10 panel vans, wanted to further enhance its green corporate social responsibility image and switched from its previous hybrid fleet.

The Tesla Model 3s were provided by Edinburgh-based fleet management specialist Gofor Finance, which provides a suite of end-to-end fleet management services including funding, consultancy and advice. The vehicles are being run on three-year contract hire arrangements with pooled mileage of 600,000 miles

Sharpfibre managing director, David Harper said that operating an all-electric car fleet had proved to be a very positive experience with very few downsides.

“Journeys may take a little more planning, but there are now enough chargers around the country so that none of our drivers have ever run out of electricity and we have experienced very little range anxiety,” he explained.

He added that charging the new Tesla fleet had not proved a problem. “We have two chargers here at our head office car park, which are in constant use, while Tesla’s own high-speed chargers are capable of charging the battery to its maximum range in half an hour.

“And there are plenty of chargers at service stations that can add 160-180 miles of range in around 20 minutes, which is just enough time for a coffee,” he said.

The service from Gofor Finance also aided the transition.

“Gofor Finance are in regular contact regarding our thoughts on running an all-electric fleet and ways in which they might be able to help us further, as well as offering useful advice,” Harper continued.

Gofor Finance also offers a driver app to record all miles travelled – as there is no distinction between business and private miles for EVs – and the results are then automatically downloaded into the Gofor Finance online fleet management system.

“This way we are able to keep an accurate handle on the mileages we have driven in relation to our pooled mileage target,” added Harper.