Ground Control will install an initial 8,500 charging points for Openreach as it works towards a target of transitioning its vehicle fleet to electric by 2030. 

The new electric vehicle (EV) charge points will be installed outside engineer’s homes and at key Openreach sites.

Openreach has the second largest fleet in the UK, with more than 30,000 vehicles, and its engineers travelled around 280 million miles during the past 12 months.

Andrew Kirkby, senior manager for sustainability at Openreach, said: “Ground Control’s expertise in the electric vehicle charging infrastructure space makes them the ideal UK partner to help us continue to reduce our carbon emissions.

“Charging points at engineers’ homes will help them play their part in becoming more sustainable whilst also giving them the comfort they need when it comes to range, getting from A to B and keeping our customers connected.”

As part of the company’s commitment to supporting British manufacturing, all electrical equipment and hardware where possible will be sourced in the UK. 

Tom Goodman, technical director for energy and decarbonisation at Ground Control, said: “We are delighted to be a key strategic partner in Openreach’s ambition to switch its commercial fleet to electric by 2030, and in the process strengthen ties between our companies.

“Ground Control has first-hand experience of best practice in this space, as we continue to progress towards our own goal of a fully electric fleet by 2025.”

The partnership with Ground Control comes after the two companies partnered to create ‘OpenWood’, a woodland-creation project in Lincolnshire which saw more than 3,000 young trees planted. 

Both businesses are also founding members of the EV100, a global initiative bringing together companies committed to accelerating the transition to electric vehicles this decade. 

Catherine Colloms, MD for corporate affairs and brand at Openreach, said: “We’ve pledged to be a net zero business and switch the bulk of our commercial van fleet to zero emissions by 2030.

“This partnership with Ground Control has allowed us to take a leading role in supplying charging infrastructure for our engineers, something we’ve been pushing government to support on too.

“We’ll continue to push for change as, like others, we face shortages in the vehicle supply chain especially when it comes to range, functionality and choice.

“For some vehicle types there is simply no option yet. Therefore, it's imperative that Government pushes ahead with the ZEV mandate so that we can lead the world when it comes to decarbonisation." 

Openreach was among several major fleet operators, which are members of the UK Electric Fleets Coalition, that called on the Government to set ambitious sales targets for zero emission vehicles (ZEVs).   

The Government published its Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate proposals in March, which would force manufacturers to sell a certain proportion of EVs in the lead up to 2030.