Software specialist calls for more incentives to choose electric vans

Peter Golding, managing director at the fleet software specialist, said the government would almost certainly have to make further revisions in the future to create momentum behind van electrification.

He said: “The fundamental issues that fleets tell us they are facing when it comes to electric van adoption are that the available vehicles are too expensive, don’t have adequate capacity for their needs and lack sufficient range.

“The moves that the government has made don’t go far enough towards tackling these problems. In creating a situation where diesel and hybrid vans can stay on sale until 2035, they’re potentially just giving fleet operators an excuse to continue using ICE vehicles and ignore the issue for a few more years.”

There were only really two potential solutions to this problem, he said – either incentives for adoption from the government or more capable vehicle designs.

“We are likely to see electric vans become more suitable for fleet use over time and almost every month, we see incremental improvements to range and payloads, while prices are becoming more attainable. However, whether this is happening at a pace sufficient to overcome operator objections to these vehicles is very much open to question.

“In the company car sector, successful adoption has been powered by taxation advantages – especially zero or very low benefit in kind. There is nothing resembling the same level of assistance in the electric van market and, as a result, no real impetus for change. This is the area where the government needs to act.

“The revisions are all about supply but it’s arguable that the real problem lies with demand. We speak to fleet operators almost every day who are unimpressed by the prospect of electric vans to the extent that their current plan is to operate their existing diesel vans for as long as possible. More needs to be done to change this mindset.”

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