BVRLA calls for incentives to choose electric vans

The British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) is calling for more incentives to persuade Britain’s van buyers to choose electric vehicles (EVs).

In its latest Road to Zero Report Card, the BVRLA says while overall progress in the transition to EVs is accelerating, there are many imbalances across different sectors.

Toby Poston, director of corporate affairs, said:

We’re past the early adoption phase of EVs. We’re at the hard yards stage where none of the decisions are easy and all the decisions you can make come with a lot of complexity and cost.

Top recommendations in the report include increased support for the van transition to zero emission vehicles, financial interventions that secure a healthy used zero emission vehicle market and an extension of the plug-in grant post 2024/25.

The report outlines how there are many cases where the vehicles and charging infrastructure are already in place, allowing van operators to make the switch.

The situation is far from universal, however. Range restrictions, limited towing or payload capacities and inaccessible public charging infrastructure are preventing thousands from swapping diesel vehicles for zero emission alternatives.

A critical lever in bridging that gap is industry collaboration with local authorities. Van accessible bays and facilitating a faster rollout of power to strategic locations are two of the solutions presented in the report.

The Plug-in Car Grant and fair taxation via benefit-in-kind are examples of the positive effects that targeted incentives can have

said Poston.

We need to collectively learn from that success. Vehicle rental, the private market and commercial vehicles all face exceptional hurdles if they are to adopt zero-emission vehicles in the volumes required.
The fleet sector has been carrying the weight of road transport decarbonisation on its shoulders from day one. It is time for others to pick up their share. This can only be with joined up thinking from across industry, backed by targeted government support.

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