XPO is set to trial 26-tonne and 44-tonne battery electric vehicles (BEV) within its network operations during 2023 in partnership with a number of its customers, the company said this week. The company has also announced a key step in converting its company-owned cars to fully electric vehicles (EVs) or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) this week.

These latest developments are part of a wider decarbonising programme which has seen XPO’s commercial fleet use hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) and other alternative fuels. To date the fleet includes 150 HVO trucks and 23 natural gas-powered trucks, with a further 25 battery electric vans and six light trucks coming online during 2023.

“The minimisation of our business travel, and therefore our emissions, is our ultimate goal. The reality of being a people-focused business is that we know the value of being physically with our customers and teams, meaning travel will be necessary from time to time. With our enhanced car policy, we can now ensure that every essential business mile will be made in the most responsible way possible,” said Dan Myers, XPO MD for the UK and Ireland.

XPO said it has also met its target to replace more than 50% of its automotive fleet of company-owned cars with fully electric vehicles (EVs) or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) by its 2022 financial year-end.

Of a fleet of 177 vehicles, 103 (58%) are either hybrid or full EVs. The company said it also expects to have 100% of its fleet converted by 2024, in line with its company car policy of offering only EV or hybrid vehicles for business use.