Property developer Laing O’Rourke joins switch to electric cars

Property developer Laing O’Rourke is joining Vinci and Skanska in the switch to electric company cars for staff.

The company runs around 1,000 company cars and plans to complete its transition to an all-electric fleet by 2025. This will save up to 1,000 tonnes of carbon a year.

The change is part of Laing O’Rourke’s work to accelerate the reduction of CO2 emissions from its operations, as the firm plots a route to becoming a net zero contractor.

Laing O’Rourke’s group director, Madeleina Loughrey-Grant said: “We, our clients and other stakeholders are all very aware of the climate emergency and that all businesses need to do more to reduce emissions.

“Moving to a plug-in hybrid and electric-only company car fleet is welcome and an important step towards having a fully electric company car fleet by 2025, which will reduce emissions from our company cars by 70% compared to 2019.”

Access to charging points remains a concern for many people considering electric vehicles and the company will install additional charging points at its main offices around the country.

It is also partnering with an external company to support employees with the installation of charging points at their home addresses.

This news comes on the back of Select Plant Hire buying the world’s first electric crawler crane in December.

The Liebherr 250t lattice jib crawler crane not only produces zero emissions but also matches the performance of its diesel-powered counterparts, whether it is unplugged or plugged in.