BT Group has today (9th Jan) announced the UK’s largest ever commercial Electric Vehicle (EV) fleet order, with around 3,500 new EVs being ordered, supporting the upgrade of the nation’s largest broadband and mobile networks. The order will mean BT Group has the largest fleet of EVs in the UK, with nearly 8,000, by the time the company’s latest EV order is complete in 2026.

BT Group which includes Openreach, the UK’s largest wholesale broadband company, manages the second largest commercial vehicle fleet in the UK, with more than 27,000 vehicles used by engineers across the country. The company already has around 4,300 electric vehicles, supporting its target to become a net zero business by March 2031. The order of the new EVs is part of a larger delivery of 6,000 new vehicles, with more than half of the vans being EVs.

The new fleet will provide colleagues with the most efficient, sustainable, modern vehicles, as they work to build and maintain the company’s next generation mobile and broadband networks. BT Group has the largest full fibre broadband network in the UK, covering more than 16 million homes and businesses, with engineers from Openreach building to more premises every week, on track to reach 25 million premises by the end of 2026. BT Group engineers also look after more than 19,500 mobile masts for the EE mobile network and they maintain around 5,600 telephone exchanges, from Shetland to The Isles of Scilly.

Simon Lowth, Chief Financial Officer, BT Group, said: “By integrating yet more electric vehicles into our operations, we are taking another significant step towards reducing our carbon footprint and supporting the UK's transition to a greener future. As we extend our full fibre build from 16 million homes and businesses today to 25 million by the end of 2026, having the most efficient, sustainable electric vehicles will give our engineers the edge as they connect customers at pace to our next generation networks. Our modern fleet will help us to be more efficient and deliver a better service for our customers.”

Lilian Greenwood, Future of Roads Minister, said: “Businesses have a crucial role to play in driving the transition to electric cars and vans. That’s why it’s fantastic to see that BT Group have made the most of our plug-in van grant to order 3,500 brand new EVs – which means they will have the largest electric commercial fleet in the UK.

“We want to help more businesses decarbonise their operations, and we’ve extended our plug-in van grant with £120m funding to help roll out more zero emission vans on our roads - part of our £2.3bn to support industry and consumers switch to EVs and make the transition a success”.

The order will be delivered by four manufacturers over the next two years: Ford, Stellantis, Toyota, and Renault.