"We have been tasked to reduce carbon emissions by 25% and we are on track to achieving this,” says Marriott.

“In the next two years we should meet that target and EV technology features heavily in our strategy to do this.”

British Gas first added electric vehicles to its fleet more than a year ago when it acquired three Nissan Leafs.

These are based at its offices in Windsor and Staines and used as pool cars for staff to drive between offices.

Solar technology was installed to more sustainably provide the electricity to power the charging points.

According to Marriott, a total cost of ownership approach is crucial when weighing up the benefits of electric vehicles, but the continued uptake of the technology is reliant on Government support.

EV exponents suggest fleets should expect to see a 20% reduction in maintenance costs for an electric vehicle over traditionally-fuelled cars, but Marriott believes it will more likely be between 20-40%. The only uncertainty is around the high list price of the vehicles.

“It’s a chicken and egg situation,” says Marriott.

“To bring the price down you need mass production. “Manufacturers have invested billions in the technology, and they wouldn’t have done that if it wasn’t the future.”

Electric cars need to suit a certain requirement to be successful, typically short, urban journeys.

The continued uptake of electric cars and vans will be crucial to ensure the British Gas fleet hits its target.

“We know we will never deploy thousands of electric vehicles, but we are ambitious enough to believe that by the end of 2015 we could have anything between 7-10% of our fleet running electric ,” Marriott says.

“It is that transition which will help us beat our carbon reduction target.”

Factfile

Fleet manager Colin Marriott
Time in role 10 years
Fleet size 13,000 vans, 2,500 cars
Operating cycle cars: 4yr/80,000 miles; vans: 5yr/60,000 miles (small) or 5yr/100,000 miles (large)
Funding method cars: contract hire; vans: outright purchase
Fleet management provider Hitachi Capital
Brands on fleet cars: Audi, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen; vans: Ford, Nissan, Vauxhall, Volkswagen