PROOF that selective use of electric vehicles (EVs) can save businesses money has come in the shape of AlphaElectric’s solution which cut one hospital’s staff transport bill by 40%.

Employing more than 1,800 people, the West Middlesex University Hospital Trust’s mission was to make savings on transport options used by community therapy staff who were clocking up £38,000 a year on taxis to visit patients.

A pool car looked like a good option and with journeys being short, an EV solution was perfect because the car always returned to its base where it could be charged. Costs were also lower than a conventional combustion engined vehicle because there would be no need to administer fuel cards or garage receipts.

However, the hospital ran into some major problems when it tried to go the EV route. Andy Finlay, the trust’s performance and operations manager explained: “The first few suppliers we went to on the NHS procurement framework weren’t interested in leasing just one EV to us.

“If we’d wanted a fleet of four or five cars, procurement would not have been a problem. But we wanted to begin by proving the concept, so one car was all we wanted.”

Fortunately, the trust stumbled upon Alphabet, who were happy to lease a single vehicle. Alphabet’s AlphaElectric consulting team provided information on the whole life costs of EVs compared with combustion cars.

The trust settled on a Nissan Leaf, with a delivery lead time of five to six weeks but then it found it could only insure a minimum of five fleet cars through the NHS’s procurement framework policy.

Again, Alphabet solved the Trust’s problem. Unlike most leasing companies, it was able to offer insurance-inclusive leasing packages.

“Alphabet are geared to solving problems,” said Finlay. “They came up with the car and the insurance. Their account manager also gave us all the information we needed to write the terms and conditions for the car’s users. Everything was perfectly seamless from their end.”

Now therapy staff at the hospital use the Leaf almost exclusively and leasing it will allow the trust to redirect around 40% of the money it once spent on fares into patient care.