New guidance to help fleets transition to electric vehicles (EVs) is being launched at an Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP) webinar, being held next week.

Covering the policies needed for adoption of EVs, the documents will help to create an infrastructure for businesses switching to zero emissions cars and vans, the AFP says.

The documents have been created by the AFP’s EV, Low Carbon and Alternative Fuels Committee.

Paul Hollick, chair of the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP), said: “We’ve been looking closely at creating new written materials that will be of direct help to fleets that are beginning to integrate EVs into their operations.

“Originally, we were going to produce a general guide but there are quite a lot of those around and we decided instead to look at what written materials would be of most practical help.

“It seemed to us that guidance documents to help create actual policy would be much more useful for more people at this point. Taken together, they will provide a large element of the written infrastructure needed to move towards EV adoption and help businesses to ask the right questions and find the best answers for their specific circumstances.”

The webinar, ‘Introducing Electric Vehicles - Upgrading Your Policy and Implementing Your EV Roadmap’, takes place at 9:30am on December 16 and will be hosted by AFP director, Julie Summerell.

The webinar will include presentations from Simon King, director of sustainability, social value and fleet at Mitie and Lorna McAtear, fleet manager at National Grid.

Hollick said: “While the Coronavirus crisis might have affected the availability of new EVs and slowed fleet adoption as a result, there is no question that fleet enthusiasm appears to be unaffected.

“As well as covering the new documents, the webinar will look at the practicalities of introducing EVs to your business, from vehicle choice to range management and from charging availability to drawing up choice lists.

“Our speakers are at different stages in their EV journey, with Simon quite far advanced down the road and Lorna just starting out, so it’ll be interesting to hear about their contrasting experiences and expectations.”

The webinar is the third to be held since the formation of the organisation in March from the merging of the Association of Car Fleet Operators (ACFO) and the Institute of Car Fleet Management (ICFM).

A full calendar of 2021 events have also been announced.

To attend the ‘Introducing Electric Vehicles - Upgrading Your Policy and Implementing Your EV Roadmap’ webinar contact the AFP Administration Hub on administration@theafp.co.uk.