UK Health Service Goes Electric With JLR BEV Fleet

Paul Myles

TU-Editor

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21st January 2020

The UK’s largest single employer, the National Health Service (NHS), has seen one of its trusts signed up to buying a 700-strong fleet of Jaguar Land Rover’s BEV SUVs.

In a move that will boost the EV lobby’s hopes, the deal made by the Northumbria Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust opens the door to further vehicle sales throughout the country. The agreement through Northumbria Healthcare’s NHS Fleet Solutions, will give staff from more than 200 organizations access to lease the Jaguar I-Pace over a three-year period.

The NHS employs around 1.7M people and a possible roll-out of EV transportation throughout the service to help the nation meet it’s carbon neutral target of 2050 represents a multi billion dollar opportunity for carmakers. The I-Pace is the reigning UK  ‘Car of the Year’, and trust executives hope it will complement the NHS’ ambition to reduce its carbon footprint and be more sustainable.

Sir James Mackey, chief executive at Northumbria Healthcare, said: “We are delighted to be working with Jaguar Land Rover UK, this is a great deal for NHS and public sector staff and delivers genuine benefit to our patients. To have a fleet of cars that are fully electric demonstrates our on-going commitment to making decisions that reduce our impact on the environment and help us become greener.”

Claire Watson-Brown, national contract hire and public sector manager at JLR, said: “The I-Pace demonstrates our latest electric vehicle technology, developed here in the UK to deliver clean, sustainable and efficient transport.”

The BEV fleet will be available to public sector staff at organizations which are signed up to NHS Fleet Solutions from April 2020. Employees will pay for their vehicles via salary sacrifice.

— Paul Myles is a seasoned automotive journalist based in London. Follow him on Twitter @Paulmyles_