Fully electric vans currently account for a 5.6% market share, significantly below the 10% year-end target set by the UK government's ZEV Mandate.
The Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP) has warned that incentivising electric van demand, and ensuring the vehicles are more capable, are two factors that must be delivered to help the automotive industry hit zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) targets.
AFP chairman Paul Hollick said that he believes the Department for Transport (DfT) appears to be keener to help manufacturers offset limited demand for electric vans than to find ways to dramatically encourage fleets to purchase them, and warned "that creates an unsustainable situation.”
Hollick warned that many fleets, having found during the pandemic that they can practically extend replacement cycles by several years, are planning to hang on to existing diesel vans until the situation surrounding electric vans improves.
“The problem with electric van sales is not so much that they are lower than expected, as seen in the electric car market, but that they appear to have stalled altogether around the 5% mark," says Hollick.
“Fleets are effectively refusing to buy them for practical reasons and forcing manufacturers to make increasing percentages of vehicles under the ZEV Mandate doesn’t solve that core problem.”
The AFP argues that only a step change in technology, improving the range and payload issues with electric vans, would resolve core fleet objections, so potential government action lies instead in areas such as infrastructure, regulation and financial incentives.
The Van Plan launched with the BVRLA and other parties - including Logistics UK - a few months ago explained the demand issues that are behind slow electric van uptake – insufficient public and private charging infrastructure, regulatory barriers, and affordability and availability of suitable product.
Michelle Gardner, Deputy Director – Policy at Logistics UK, said: “Our members are committed to making the transition to zero emission vans but it’s essential that the government engages with van fleet operators as the industry strives to meet its decarbonisation deadlines.
“Logistics UK has been calling for an agreed and co-created logistics roadmap to net zero to help support the industry to decarbonise and as a partner of the Zero Emission Van Plan, we have been seeking urgent steps from government, including removing regulatory barriers and addressing infrastructure barriers, to help more fleets transition to EVs.”
