Move towards electric vehicles ‘will be challenging in 2024’

The move towards electric vans and trucks will be increasingly difficult next year, according to the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP). It says new strategies will need to be developed to maintain the momentum of net zero plans. AFP chairman, Paul Hollick, said a number of factors were combining to potentially slow the rate at which electric vehicles (EVs) were being adopted by businesses.

For example, he said, there was a general absence of pick-ups, 4x4s and other specialist vehicles in the sector, towing capacity was uncertain, insurance costs were rising rapidly and are sometimes prohibitive, and there are still no easy charging solutions for people living in terraced houses or apartments.

Creating a consistent used market for EVs was a further challenge and one where fleets needed to work in conjunction with the remarketing sector, he said.

The drop in EV values seen in the last year has made dealers wary, while confidence among some consumers has been shaken by the Government’s 2035 move and a steady stream of EV-bashing stories in some sections of the media,

he added.

Also, we’re in a situation where fleets arguably have too many of the ‘wrong’ EVs for the used market. While things are improving, the range and payload of the available models just doesn’t meet the needs of most operators, while the charging infrastructure is not yet in a place to offset these disadvantages. The operational compromises required to overcome these issues are considerable, and some of our members have currently paused their commercial vehicle electrification as a result.

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