{"id":10465,"date":"2021-03-30T13:16:59","date_gmt":"2021-03-30T11:16:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/?p=10465"},"modified":"2021-03-30T13:16:59","modified_gmt":"2021-03-30T11:16:59","slug":"electric-vehicles-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/2021\/03\/30\/electric-vehicles-13\/","title":{"rendered":"How Electric Vehicles Will Help AstraZeneca Achieve Carbon Neutrality"},"content":{"rendered":"

Photo: AstraZeneca<\/i><\/span><\/p>\n

Barbara Zuroick, U.S. fleet and safety manager for AstraZeneca, with a Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Bolt during a EV test drive experience at the company\u2019s Wilmington Del. headquarters.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

In January 2020, AstraZeneca publicly announced a commitment to have its entire global operations be carbon neutral by 2025 and carbon negative by 2030, according to the Pharmaceutical Company\u2019s CEO Pascal Soriot.<\/span><\/p>\n

Part of the ambitious strategy to reach this goal will include eventually having its entire global fleet operations operate entirely on electric vehicles by the 2025 deadline.<\/span><\/p>\n

Barbara Zuroick, U.S. fleet and safety manager for AstraZeneca, is playing an integral role in the gradual rollout of EVs for the company\u2019s U.S. fleet, which has been a continuously evolving process since it was first announced at the start of 2020.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a global initiative and an ongoing exercise that is a work in progress,\u201d said Zuroick. \u201cWith regard to fleet, I work closely with my counterparts globally to identify implementation strategies, timelines, and change management efforts. We not only collaborate internally but externally as well, to ensure we are setting AstraZeneca up for success as we make this transformation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

An Early Jump on Sustainability<\/span><\/h2>\n

AstraZeneca is no stranger to integrating more sustainable products into its fleet portfolio.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Before the company announced its global carbon neutrality commitment in 2020, in 2018 Zuroick helped spearhead an earlier fleet sustainability initiative in which she introduced hybrid-only vehicle replacement selectors for model-year 2019 vehicles and onward.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Barbara<\/span>
Barbara Zuroick<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

AstraZeneca operates a fleet of approximately 5,000 SUVs and cars, including several light trucks. Of this, Zuroick said roughly 3,900 of these assets will be hybrid-electric vehicles by the end of the first half of 2021.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re proud of our commitment and the introduction of a hybrid-only selector was the start of the sustainability journey,\u201d she said. \u201cIn 2019, one in every 428 hybrid-electric vehicles were purchased by AstraZeneca.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Implementing this initiative required approval from the top down, with several considerations required to assess the company wide impact.<\/span><\/p>\n

The transition ultimately proved to be successful and has helped create another path to the company\u2019s current plan to transition to all-electric vehicles.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been very successful and very welcomed,\u201d she said. \u201cThere was no pushback from my field drivers in acquiring hybrid vehicles. Now the next steps are going to be the introduction of the battery-electric vehicles.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Preparing to Introduce EVs<\/span><\/h2>\n

Introducing battery-electric vehicles into a commercial fleet vehicle portfolio presents an entirely new, very broad range of challenges that fleet managers will have to overcome, which Zuroick of AstraZeneca has had to contemplate during the early stages of this carbon neutral initiative.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis commitment will expose a new set of challenges and opportunities to solve for including the installation of home charging stations and reimbursement solutions for renters or multi-family homes,\u201d she said. \u201cThese are the ongoing discussions with the industry experts that we are continuously learning about. It\u2019s not all going to happen overnight, but AstraZeneca is committed\u00a0 to the journey.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

As electric vehicles slowly become introduced to the AstraZeneca fleet, a big component to the continued adoption of the technologies will include a focus on helping drivers understand the technology, as EVs present a very different set of skills to learn when compared to standard internal combustion engine or hybrid-electric vehicles.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThis space carries over into the integration with telematics or reporting on an app, where all that technology is going to have to be fine-tuned and operating properly,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is new for all of us, and there will have to be education to the drivers about how some of the technology works in these cars.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

These conversations have required having discussions beyond senior leadership and will require a true cross-functional taskforce to operationalize the strategy, according to Zuroick.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI have a team of people I talk to and right now we\u2019re developing an implementation strategy,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

According to AstraZeneca\u2019s mission statement the company strives to create a meaningful difference in the lives of the patients it serves and the people who work for the company.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSo, whether its helping patients breathe better with respiratory solutions or providing more oncology products, we are continuously looking at all ways our Enterprise can make a meaningful difference,\u201d said Zuroick.<\/span><\/p>\n

Overcoming EV Infrastructure Challenges<\/span><\/h2>\n

Prior to AstraZeneca announcing its 2025 carbon neutrality goal, Zuroick said she had been test-driving EVs that OEMs had provided the company on a trial basis so she could get a better feel for the technology.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This subsequently brought on additional questions from Zuroick to consider with regards to adapting with the technology.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese cars are very interesting to drive – I took them home, plugged them into my garage – you really have to get a feel for this type of technology to see what it\u2019s all about,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

This helped her understand more about the challenges that fleets and their drivers will have to overcome when beginning to incorporate these new technologies, with range anxiety being one of the biggest concerns.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI wouldn\u2019t want to be driving an EV in the middle of the desert and not be operating a fully charged vehicle,\u201d she said. \u201cIs the driver going to have to take some ownership and be thoughtful about what their driving distance will be? When we talk about education and change management efforts, these are things we\u2019re going to have to address.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She added that support from her FMC will be critical to how the company will look to gradually introduce electric vehicles into the fleet and bring about driver education of the technology.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe integration of the charging stations is going to be key,\u201d she said. \u201cFor large companies like AstraZeneca, the tracking, reporting, and billing is all going to have to be streamlined and seamless.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

She added that she is hopeful that U.S. lawmakers are more inclined to introduce legislation that will help make it easier for fleets to ease into the battery electric vehicle space.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m hoping some of the electric vehicle discounts get extended, because I think we\u2019ll get to the finish line faster as a world if we are encouraged by our nation\u2019s leader,\u201d she said. \u201cThis is an important step for all of us – we\u2019re all responsible for the planet and reducing carbon emissions by introducing these electric vehicles into large fleets.\u00a0 I encourage all fleet managers to look into this.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\n

by Andy Lundin<\/a><\/p>\n

Source: https:\/\/www.automotive-fleet.com<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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FLEET MANAGEMENT AUDIT<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Photo: AstraZeneca Barbara Zuroick, U.S. fleet and safety manager for AstraZeneca, with a Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Bolt during a EV test drive experience at the company\u2019s Wilmington Del. headquarters. In January 2020, AstraZeneca publicly announced a commitment to have its entire global operations be carbon neutral by 2025 and carbon negative by 2030, according…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[231,217],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10465"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10465"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10465\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10467,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10465\/revisions\/10467"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10465"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10465"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advancedfleetmanagementconsulting.com\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10465"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}