Businesses Urged to Review Winter Heating and Energy Plans

Industry bodies are urging businesses to finalise their winter heating plans now, including boiler servicing, heating system checks, and energy management protocols. While wholesale energy prices have stabilised compared to the crisis peaks of 2022-23, costs remain significantly above historic norms. Organisations that fail to prepare risk equipment failures during peak demand periods, emergency repair costs, and uncomfortable working conditions that affect productivity. The advice is particularly relevant for facilities management companies and service businesses operating from depots, workshops, and office sites.

For businesses running vehicle fleets, winter preparation extends beyond building heating to vehicle readiness, especially for electric vans and cars. Cold weather reduces EV range by 10-30 percent depending on conditions and heating use, which can affect service scheduling and route planning. Diesel and petrol vehicles also need winter checks including battery condition, antifreeze levels, and tyre tread. Service businesses that fail to winterise their fleets risk roadside breakdowns during the coldest, darkest months when recovery times are longest and customer tolerance is lowest.

Fleet managers should schedule winter checks for all vehicles over the next few weeks, paying particular attention to battery health and tyre condition. For EV operators, now is the time to review charging patterns and consider whether cold-weather range reduction will affect any regular routes or require schedule adjustments. Some businesses find that adding a small buffer to journey times or adjusting technician territories during winter months prevents range anxiety and late arrivals. Telematics data from previous winters can help identify which routes or usage patterns are most vulnerable to cold-weather range reduction.

Bluepoppy's Fleet Cost Review includes a winter readiness check for clients who want to ensure their vehicles and charging infrastructure are prepared for cold weather. We work with service businesses to model EV range under winter conditions and adjust replacement cycles or specifications if current vehicles are marginal in cold weather. Our leasing partners offer flexible maintenance packages that can include seasonal checks, and our telematics recommendations help you monitor battery health and range in real time. Get your fleet winter-ready before the first cold snap catches you out.

Bluepoppy view: Winter hits EV range and vehicle reliability – prepare your fleet now, not in the first freeze.

Source: FMJ — summarised and written from a Bluepoppy perspective. We don’t reproduce the original article.