| Case Study | Business | Fleet

Fleet EV Charge Points Keep Dawsongroup Electric Fleet Moving

Dawsongroup Vans has one of the most established fleets of vehicles in the UK. On a journey to electrify its fleet, they required reliable charging infrastructure.
Man in work uniform standing by electric vehicle charge point

The Client

Dawsongroup Vans is part of the family-owned Dawsongroup, which was founded in 1935 and has grown into an international supply chain asset rental business. As the newest part of the company, Dawsongroup Vans, focuses on flexible or fixed-term rentals keeping businesses moving with a range of light commercial vehicle solutions. 

Dawsongroup Vans has one of the most established fleets of vehicles in the UK and operates across multiple locations nationwide. On a journey to decarbonise its fleet, Dawsongroup Vans has trialled a number of electric commercial vehicles and the team knew that they needed to get the right charging infrastructure in place before they could go any further. 

“We had a clear picture of what we wanted to achieve across our entire network, and what we wanted to avoid. We had worked with two different suppliers but ran into problems with the reliability of the charging products. So, when we approached Mer (formerly Elmtronics) we not only wanted them to recommend a solution to us, but we also needed to know that they would deliver.” – Simon Ridley, Managing Director of Dawsongroup Vans 

The Solution

18 months after beginning its journey, Dawsongroup Vans is well on the way to achieving its aim of having EV charge points across all its sites by the end of the year. 

Having already installed 22kw dual fast chargers at nine sites, giving a future-proofed solution which can charge the fleet’s new all-electric Vauxhall Vivaro-e vans, and which will also allow for charging a range of different vehicles as the electric fleet grows. 

Electrical surveys were carried out across each location at the start of the process and, as a result, load management was used to overcome challenges posed by the power available at each site. And the team also helped to prepare information on EVs and infrastructure for Dawsongroup’s customers and drivers. 

An extremely exciting partnership has been formed between us and will continue to develop for years to come.

“With light commercial vehicles, you need to have charging infrastructure in place where the vehicle is stored overnight, so it’s ready to operate the next day. If you’ve got the charging in place, and you’ve thought it through, those electric vehicles can remain on rent for as long as a diesel vehicle would.” – Simon Ridley, Managing Director of Dawsongroup Vans 

As Dawsongroup’s other divisions also continue their transition to EVs – fleet and workplace charging has already been installed at other sites nationwide for Dawsongroup Truck and Trailer, Dawsongroup Finance and Dawsongroup Sweepers – Mer’s Operator Portal will allow usage to be monitored across the different parts of the business. 

“In 2022 and beyond, our attention will be on supporting Dawsongroup to deliver rapid charging capability across more locations. An extremely exciting partnership has been formed between us and will continue to develop for years to come.” – Natasha Fry, Mer UK Head of Strategic Accounts – Fleet and Workplace Charging 

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