British Gas loves the e-NV200, buys more of them

After a successful pilot program testing the Nissan LEAF-based e-NV200 small cargo van, British Gas has ordered fifty more of them, making for a fleet of 100 to start.

A six-month winter trial of the Nissan e-NV200 all-electric van through British Gas has completed and the United Kingdom's largest energy company has decided to purchase more of the vans as a result. BG plans to have ten percent of its fleet running as plug-in electrics by 2017 and to that end will take delivery of 100 of the e-NV200 vans before December of this year.

A nationwide pilot of 28 vans began about six months ago, with the vans taking places in the BG home service van fleet. The company enjoyed the vans and their potential so much that they put in an immediate order to get fifty more with a follow-up order for another fifty before December 2014.

The UK’s largest ever electric commercial vehicle evaluation to date, which saw the 28 e-NV200s cover in excess of 60,000 miles between them, was launched to assess how the e-NV200 vans performed in winter conditions during typical British Gas home services daily usage patterns and was such a success that some drivers were reluctant to hand back their vans.

Colin Marriott, general manager, fleet at British Gas said: “We have been extremely impressed with the performance of the Nissan e-NV200 during our winter trial. The feedback from our engineers speaks for itself, with the majority saying they would be happy to keep the van permanently."

Nissan will put the e-NV200 into showrooms for purchase in the UK beginning this June. The van is a small commercial van, based on the NV200 chassis and body, but utilizing the Nissan LEAF powertrain, including its battery pack and motor. Nissan builds the e-NV200 on the same production lines that build the gasoline and diesel variants.