Dusseldorf Mathias Bühring-Uhle sees his company on course for the conversion of the vehicle fleet. “For new orders, more than 80 percent already opt for a company car with alternative drives,” says the Chief Operating Officer of the Cologne-based insurance group Gothaer. The emissions of the approximately 450 vehicles also shrank constantly because the company promotes e-cars through higher subsidies.
Another, even larger block in the climate balance causes the board member more headaches. The latest sustainability report for 2021 shows around 1300 tons of CO₂ equivalents for commuter mobility for the Cologne location – in the non-Corona year 2019 it was even almost 6000 tons. It records the emissions caused by employees without a company car on their way between home and the office. Now the company wants to take countermeasures. “We will strengthen alternatives to driving your own car,” says Bühring-Uhle.
Gothaer is currently voluntarily publishing emissions data on commutes. In doing so, however, she anticipates an obligation. With the “Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD)”, the EU is tightening the requirements for sustainability reporting. From 2024, larger companies will have to record indirect emissions in their value chain – this also includes commuter mobility. In addition, the group of reporting companies will be expanded.
As with Gothaer, other companies are also focusing on how employees get to the workplace. A new field is opening up for fleet managers, says Michael Poglitsch, head of Germany at Dutch mobility service provider Mobinck. “For a good climate balance in the area of mobility, it is no longer enough to electrify company cars.” Those who remain inactive risk poor sustainability ratings – and could be spurned by financiers or specialists.
Climate balance shows gaps
“Emissions from employee mobility have so far been a heavily underestimated area in every corporate climate balance,” says Hilke Patzwall, sustainability manager at Vaude. The outdoor outfitter from Tettnang near Friedrichshafen is considered a model company when it comes to sustainability – but commuting is still a major cause of emissions there too. The challenge: Companies cannot dictate how their employees get to work. Instead, they have to work with incentives.
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Both Vaude and Gothaer employees want to encourage people to cycle to work. The outdoor outfitter has a bicycle garage and a repair shop, among other things, and the insurer has installed additional bicycle racks in the underground car park and lockers at its headquarters. Both companies also offer bicycle leasing and charging options for e-bikes. Public transport also plays a major role for Gothaer, whose headquarters are near a tram stop. “We expect another boost from the introduction of the 49-euro ticket, which we will subsidize for our employees,” says Bühring-Uhle.
Deutsche Telekom is taking an even more comprehensive approach. In addition to company bikes and job tickets, the group offers shuttle transport at several locations, which can be booked via an app. If you do need a car, car sharing vehicles from the Group’s fleet are available. This year, Telekom also wants to introduce an app with which all mobility offers can be booked together. It’s just not enough to limit yourself to the vehicle fleet, said Olga Nevska, Managing Director of Telekom Mobility Solutions, in a recent interview with an industry magazine.
The Austrian start-up Ummadum wants to establish additional incentives for environmentally friendly commuting. Employees of corporate customers can use an app to record their journeys to work. If they travel on foot, by bus or train, by bike or in a car pool, they collect points. These can then be redeemed for shopping vouchers paid for by the employer. “Two thirds of all employees commute in their own car,” says co-founder René Schader. “We want to initiate behavioral changes with incentives.”
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The app also helps to document sustainable commutes. If such a program is missing, the calculation of the climate balance becomes tricky. Vaude, for example, asks employees to enter their eco-friendly journeys in an Excel spreadsheet – and regularly raffles small gifts such as restaurant vouchers, cookbooks or bicycle accessories among the participants as a reward.
Momentum for specialists
Around 100 companies in Austria are currently using Ummadum’s services, and there are also partnerships with local authorities. For sales in Germany, the start-up has just joined forces with the service provider Sodexo, which specializes in employee benefits. The EU requirement CSRD inspires business, says Schader. “Many companies are now realizing that commuter mobility is a major construction site on the way to climate neutrality.”
In general, specialists for alternatives to the car are gaining momentum – in addition to company bike companies, providers of mobility budgets such as Mobiko. The concept: Instead of a company car or a job ticket, employees are credited with monthly sums that they can use for mobility offers of their choice. Mobiko advertises that the app-based billing provides a good insight into mobility behavior.
But there is also potential in classic mobility. The British start-up Wevee Technologies, for example, is counting on companies expanding car leasing – and also helping those employees who are not entitled to a company car to switch to electric cars. “There will always be employees who depend on the car because public transport is sometimes insufficiently developed or the distance for cycling is too far,” says Wolfgang Pfafferott, Managing Director of Wevee Germany.
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In cooperation with leasing companies, Wevee offers an ordering platform for purely electric cars that companies can make available to their employees. The vehicle owner is the employer, but unlike the classic company car, the monthly leasing rate is deducted from the gross salary of the employee. Because they pay less income tax and social security contributions as a result, according to Wevee, they save up to 40 percent compared to private leasing. This should make it more attractive to get rid of your own combustion engine.
This form of salary conversion is not new – it is also mostly used for company bikes. So far, however, the administrative effort has often been avoided, says Pfafferott, who wants to change that. “We have greatly simplified the process for companies and employees.” Anyone who enters their salary data in the ordering portal, for example, is immediately shown how the new car will affect their net wages. The calculation for the HR department is also automated.
There are many different approaches to reducing commuter emissions. But which instrument has the greatest effect in individual companies depends on the circumstances. Mobinck wants to provide orientation – with its sister companies, the company offers, among other things, consulting services, fleet software and billing systems for business trips.
“Mobility scan” visualizes commuter routes
A “mobility scan” can be used to visualize the routes taken by commuters using anonymous personal data. The software then calculates the impact of higher subsidies for public transport tickets or company bikes. “In this way, companies can specifically strengthen the offers that are favorable for them in terms of emission reductions and costs,” says Mobinck Germany boss Poglitsch. Indirect effects would also be included – such as the tendentially lower sick leave of employees who come to work by bike or on foot.
According to the former Sixt manager, the responsibilities must also be reorganized. “It makes no sense to spread responsibility for fleet management, business travel and job tickets across different areas.”
Gothaer is also aiming for greater coordination of the internal departments. The board of directors recently decided to establish a new mobility management system as a virtual organizational unit, says Bühring-Uhle. A “sustainable mobility concept” is to be created – from the vehicle fleet to business trips to commuter mobility. “The pressure to address the issue will only increase in the years to come.”
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