There is a new van on the Gemini fleet, and this one is a bit different. The Volkswagen ID. Buzz that arrived at Burgess Hill on 5 October, the latest model on a fresh 76 plate, is our first fully electric vehicle. No engine, no fuel tank, no exhaust.

We have run hybrids for years, so the fleet has been part-electric for a long time. This is the first one that goes all the way, and we are not pretending it is anything other than a milestone we are pleased about. It also happens to look the part.

Charged by the roof

The part we are proudest of is what it runs on. Our office has a three-phase supply, so we have installed a 22 kW charger on site, and the roof already carries an 8 kW solar array. On a working day the van is parked under the panels that fill it, so a good share of its miles cost nothing and come from our own roof rather than the grid.

The engineer running it has had a charger fitted at home too, on us. Between the office, home and the panels, the van starts every day full without anyone making a detour for it.

Why it suits the job

The ID. Buzz has gone to the service department, and that is deliberate. A maintenance van spends its day doing short hops between sites and then sitting still while the engineer is inside. Daily mileage is predictable and the van is back at base most evenings. That is the pattern a battery van handles best: charged overnight, out all day, no fuel stops and no idling outside a client’s front door.

London sharpened the case. Since 2 January 2026 a fully electric van pays £9 a day in the Congestion Charge zone against the standard £18, as long as it is registered for TfL Auto Pay. That discount steps down to 25% from March 2030, so the advantage belongs to fleets that move early. Across a year of London servicing it is not a small number.

What changes for our clients

Nothing about the service. The same engineer turns up with the same kit and leaves the same records. What changes is what sits behind each visit.

More of our clients and main contractors now ask about fleet emissions in tender questionnaires and supplier reviews, and the question gets more specific each year. A service visit made in a van charged from our own solar panels is a very easy answer to give, and an easy one for our clients to pass up the chain to theirs.

What is next

One van is a start, not a strategy. We will run it through a winter, watch range on the kind of mixed Sussex-to-London days our engineers actually do, and let that decide how fast the rest of the fleet follows. If it does the job, there is no reason the next vans should not be electric too.

Spot it on the road

The livery carries the full Gemini line-up: fire suppression, fire protection, security systems, alarm monitoring, ventilation hygiene and water leak detection, with our accreditations along the side and rear. If you see it parked outside a building, somebody’s life-safety systems are being looked after.

If you would rather be driving it, we are hiring engineers and apprentices. For everything else, get in touch or call 0330 043 0080.