The EV Café and Openreach announce innovative new year-long partnership, to share the story behind one of the UK’s largest electric van fleets and the vital part their suppliers play to make it all happen.
The EV Café and Openreach launch a year-long partnership to share the story behind one of the UK’s largest electric van fleets.
What does it take to put more than 7,500 electric vehicles to work across the UK?
Over the next year, The EV Café and Openreach will take people behind the scenes of that journey and introduce the partners helping to make it happen.
Openreach operates a fleet of more than 23,000 vehicles. Its move to electric has involved far more than choosing vans: engineers need vehicles that suit their jobs, dependable ways to charge, equipment that works in the field and data that helps the fleet keep improving.
The year-long partnership will share what Openreach and its partner ecosystem have learned along the way. Allstar, Clayton Power, Geotab, MIS Conversions, Kelling Group, Holman, Stewart Signs and myenergi will each bring a different part of the story to life, from charging and telematics to conversions, on-board power, livery, funding and remarketing.
Judy O’Keefe, Director of Fleet at Openreach, said:
“Our partners are essential to the success of our fleet transition. We’ve made real progress, but we’re still learning and improving as we go. By working with The EV Café, we can share those lessons openly, the successes, the practical challenges and the solutions we’ve developed together. I’m excited about what we’ll be able to show people over the year ahead.”
The scale makes those lessons valuable. Openreach has installed more than 4,000 chargers at engineers’ homes and operational sites, however, around one in three engineers cannot have a home charger. That means finding charging options that fit how people actually work, wherever they live and that’s just one example of why collaboration matters as a fleet makes the switch.
For The EV Café, the partnership marks another step in its growth as a trusted place for practical conversations about electrification bringing fleet operators, suppliers and decision makers together to share what works in the real world.
Paul Kirby, Commercial Director at The EV Café, said:
“We feel incredibly privileged to be trusted with telling this story. At this scale, no fleet makes the transition alone. Openreach’s progress shows what’s possible when good partners work together, solve problems and keep learning. The series will follow the work behind the vehicles, offering useful insights for any fleet working out its own route to electric.
We can’t wait to showcase the decisions and lessons behind those 7,500 electric vehicles and perhaps most critically, the people that make it happen.”
The series will follow the work behind the vehicles and the people making it happen, offering useful insights for any fleet working out its own route to electric.