Rygor Commercials Supplies eVan Fleet to Bradfield College

Bradfield College, located in West Berkshire, has upgraded its campus vehicle fleet to include 16 brand new Mercedes-Benz eVito vans and two eSprinter vans, supplied by award-winning Mercedes-Benz Dealer group, Rygor Commercials.

Bradfield College, a leading independent co-education school, has a strong focus on sustainability and environmental protection, and this latest investment in a fully electric future will help the College achieve an impressive reduction of approximately 25,000 carbon miles each year. In fact, by the end of 2023, Bradfield College aims to have switched 100% of its vehicles to electric alternatives.

Because electricity costs are significantly less than diesel, the new eVans are considerably more cost-effective to run on a pence-per-mile basis than the College’s previous conventionally powered vans. Bradfield College has also invested in its charging infrastructure, meaning the new electric fleet doesn’t have to leave the site to power up, keeping its team moving. In addition, with fewer moving parts and less brake wear, the new vehicles will be likely to require less regular maintenance, making the new electric vans an even more cost-efficient choice.

Owen Adams, COO at Bradfield College, said: “Our decision to purchase our new electric vans is very much a step into the future, in line with our progressive, environmentally sustainable strategy. The vans are great for the conditions in which we operate and investing in electric helps us run more efficiently. Our fleet is used by our various in-house teams, so the vans need to be able to transport all the necessary equipment around our site. We did a lot of research into the vehicles before we chose the eVito and eSprinter vans. They’re high-quality vehicles and Mercedes-Benz is a prestigious brand, which aligns with our own values of providing exceptional standards of education to our students. Our leasing provider, VWFS Ltd., introduced us to the team at Rygor, who offered the very best package for us, so we’re very happy to have been able to use them.”

Rygor van business development executive, James Jeffries, said: “We’re a business that’s committed to an electric future, so its’s great to be able to work with likeminded customers like Bradfield College. Rygor was delighted to be able to supply and facilitate the modifications the college needed, and as we’ve been supplying and maintaining commercial vehicles since the 1980’s, we have some fantastic businesses we work with to help achieve the bespoke requirements of our customers. To ensure Bradfield College’s vans were modified to their exact specifications, Rygor worked closely with Fastfit Nationwide Ltd., whose brilliant team designed and installed completely bespoke van racking systems. As well as organising the installation of specialist racking with Fastfit Nationwide Ltd., we also used another long-standing customer of our own, Millard Signs & Graphics, to ensure the eVans not only perform brilliantly, but look incredible too. Our team is looking forward to supporting Bradfield College in the future too, as our award-winning aftersales and maintenance team is on hand to keep these vehicles running smoothly for years to come.”

Rygor’s commercial director, Rish Channa, said: “As a business, we are working with external consultancy specialists on enhancing our greener-future plan, and over the past couple of years, we’ve carried out a robust programme of LED lighting installation across the business, as well as introducing enhanced charging capability to futureproof the EV customer offering at our sites. In addition to providing exceptional facilities, customer care and vehicle choice, we’ve also made the switch to electric within our own business, and in 2022 we moved more of team members into electric vans themselves, and additionally Rygor was highly commended in the EV Retailer of the Year category at Motor Trader 2022 awards. It’s great to see more and more businesses like Bradfield College taking electric vehicles seriously. Electric vehicles have come a long way in the last few years, and we’re excited to see what the future of EV looks like in 2023 and beyond.”