Sustainability through technology

This is reflected in the number of pure EVs registered in the UK, a number that nearly trebled in 2020 to 108,205. Having made up just 1.6% of the UK new car market in 2019, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) soared to 6.6% last year and evidence suggests that few people who go electric then switch back to an internal-combustion engine (ICE). Clearly, a significant transformation is happening.

Telent are a part of this transformation and in support of our Telent Environmental and Sustainability Policy and our objective to be more sustainable by reducing our environmental impact and associated carbon footprint, Telent have been using Electric Vehicles since 2019 for the Transport for London maintenance contract.

An EV has zero exhaust emissions but do still creates a degree of greenhouse gas emissions when it is charged from the electricity used from the grid. However, the fleet of vehicles used in support of the TfL contract has helped Telent reduce our carbon emissions and reduce the associated local air pollution in and around London. Telent now have 9 Electric vehicles in use and are looking to increase this number. In the last 12 months this has saved over 8 TonnesCO2e emissions and the associated air pollution compared with using existing combustion engines.

The amount of CO₂ saved is calculated using the following assumptions: the average EV consumes 1kWh every 4 miles; the average petrol car emits 0.28kg of CO₂ per mile; and the electricity used by an EV will create the equivalent of 0.14kg of CO₂ per mile. We use the DEFRA figure of 0.49kg per kWh of electricity produced.

Telent Planned Maintenance Manager, Matt Bateman currently works on the TFL contract and has been involved with the successful introduction of the Telent EV’s since their introduction in April 2019. He also provides familiarisation training for everyone before they use these vehicles as there are obviously some key differences when driving them compared to traditional diesel or petrol engines.