Neste pilots its first electric vehicle charging service

Tuomas Kulola, Head of Sales, Marketing & Services at Neste, said: “We want to help our customers to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions, and we are constantly exploring new possibilities to support companies in achieving carbon neutrality. There’s not a single solution that would sufficiently reduce transport-related emissions on its own. Fossil diesel will be used less in heavy-duty transportation over the upcoming years, but there will be demand for renewable diesel in the future as well.

“At the same time, the transportation sector in Finland is relying more and more on electric vehicles, this applies particularly to the light-duty fleets. We want to contribute to this development. With the pilot project, we can expand our service offering to include services for electric vehicle charging, and offer our long-term partner a comprehensive solution.”

Currently, the fleet of Niemi Services includes 163 vehicles of which 120 run on renewable diesel, 35 on biogas and eight on electricity. Thanks to the pilot project, Niemi can charge several electric moving vans at their own site every day by using 22kW AC chargers and a 180kW DC fast charger. Charging transaction is initiated by using Neste’s mobile app or the RFID tags which are already familiar to EV drivers. Emissions reductions are verified in Neste’s emissions reporting service. Neste`s electric vehicle charging service includes chargers and related services, so the customer does not need to invest in chargers. In terms of electrical infrastructure and chargers, Neste's partner in the pilot is Plugit Finland Oy.

Finland has set an ambitious target, aiming to become carbon neutral by 2035. New power sources of vehicles and readily available solutions are needed to achieve this objective.

Juha Niemi, Director, large companies, at Niemi Services, added: “Our aim is to reduce our own particulate emissions to zero by 2030. To accomplish this, the existing biogas refueling and electric vehicle charging network must be expanded considerably in Finland. The current electric vehicle charging network is fragmented and unreliable, which limits the possibilities to use electric vehicles. Heavy-duty transportation companies require a wider electric vehicle charging network as their existing fleets are becoming more and more versatile.

“We’re happy to cooperate with Neste in this development and pilot project, and we’re looking forward to hearing our drivers’ experiences on the use of the service. In addition to electrification, the use of renewable diesel will continue to be an important part of achieving Niemi’s climate strategy and carbon neutrality targets.” 

 An increasing number of transportation and logistics companies will operate fleets comprising of diesel, electric and gas vehicles in the future. More competitive electric vehicles are being launched, life cycle costs of vehicles are decreasing and legislation is changing, which increases the number of electric vehicles.

Kulola continued: “Making it possible for companies to have an electric charging service at their own sites is our first step in supporting the transport sector’s electrification. We’re also identifying opportunities to serve corporate customers in other locations with a public charging network, for example. The charging network for companies’ heavier-duty vehicles will be different from consumers’ charging stations.

“For example, parking spaces will be larger, chargers will be more powerful and there will be more chargers available. I believe that we are able to create true added value for our customers with our charging solutions by developing our services with our partners.”