Leading fleet solutions provider, Rivus, hosted more than 30 industry experts from some of the UK’s most essential fleets at its inaugural EV Academy last month at Cranmore Park in the Midlands.
Invited guests including customers, fleet managers and industry bodies, came together to collaborate and share their knowledge and experience on EV adoption and implementation so far.
Following a welcome and introductions from Thomas Maerz, Rivus’ Chief Development Officer, the keynote was delivered by one of Rivus’ key customer’s Defra, the government department for farming, agriculture and rural affairs. Dale Eynon, Director of Defra Group Fleet Services, shared their story of achieving Net Zero targets early and the need for creativity when transitioning to EV.
Workshop sessions, facilitated by leading industry experts, focussed discussions in three core areas. Sarah Gray, Product and Services Development Manager (EV) at Rivus led a workshop on the total cost of ownership (TCO). Other workshops explored how to optimise charging infrastructures and Guy Fawcus, Data Analyst (EV) and Gary Harrison, Head of Engineering from Rivus tackled the topic of e-LCV performance in the real world.
Thomas Maerz, Chief Development Officer at Rivus commented: “With our EVaaS strategy we are keen to lead the way in providing data-led consultancy to our customers around the adoption of electric fleets. It is excellent to be leading discussion and debate with fleet experts which will drive the industry forward in a positive way.
“Delegates have been able to debate in an open forum what data should be collected from electric vehicles, how that data needs to be evaluated and how as an industry we should use the data for actionable insights. All of which can be measured to improve the future efficiency of electric vehicles.”
In the afternoon’s Q&A session, Bradley Miller, Brand Manager – Commercial Vehicles at Vauxhall joined Arrival’s Commercial Manager for UK and Ireland, David Watts in a panel discussion which touched on vehicle testing, manufacturing methods, new products launches and when some data points might be available from discussion earlier in the day.
Nicola Carter, Head of Account Management at Rivus, concluded: “It was great to see so many of our customers together in an open and engaging environment, discussing the real-world issues they are facing in transitioning to an electric fleet. We hope that the insights and knowledge sharing we have facilitated at the EV Academy will help them and their teams at whatever stage they are at on their EV journey.”
To register for future Rivus EV Academy events visit: https://www.rivusgroup.co.uk/academy-register/.
