Sustainability is par for the course for Gebäudeversicherung Bern (GVB) and its subsidiaries, which is why a continuous reduction in carbon emissions is a declared goal for the company. As part of the company’s sustainability strategy, the decision was made to operate the field sales fleet as close to climate-neutral as possible. In 2017, general business travel was still the biggest cause of emissions with 287 tonnes of CO2. One year later, the acquisition of a fully electric field sales fleet of 89 e-Golfs had enabled emissions to be cut by a factor of 6 – to just 48 tonnes. The time has now come to renew this electric fleet, and the new fully electric ID.3 from Volkswagen has been chosen.
When it came to buying the e-Golfs in 2018, not only commercial criteria were taken into account. According to Patrick Lerf, Head of Finance at Gebäudeversicherung Bern, in addition to cost there were three other critical parameters: “Maintaining the comfort of the existing VW e-Golf fleet, a high range and faster charging compared to the previous vehicles.” In addition to this, the future users of the vehicles were allowed to have their say. Four different vehicles from various manufacturers were available for employees to test drive. The feedback from testers and the positive experience with AMAG Bern as the service company looking after the existing field sales fleet were ultimately crucial in the decision in favour of Volkswagen.
The new fleet will be made up of 80 VW ID.3s and nine VW Golf GTE Hybrids. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, delivery has been staggered over the period from mid-April to the end of August 2021. The majority of maintenance work is carried out by AMAG Bern, while employees from outside the canton take their vehicles to an AMAG workshop near their home. The new vehicles will be used in the field for three years, and will cover an average of around 18 500 kilometres per year. In addition, pool vehicles from the electric fleet will be available to other employees at the locations in Ittigen, St. Blaise and Glattbrugg.
