Electric vans are ready, so what is holding fleets back?

Electric vans are ready, but many fleets are still holding back

Earlier this year, Herd Group partnered with Fleet News on Electric Vans: Moving to Net Zero, looking at where fleets really are on their electrification journey and why adoption isn't moving as quickly as expected.

One of the biggest considerations is range. The figures on paper don't always reflect what happens once a van is out working, particularly when temperature, payload and towing are taken into account.

Trials referenced in the report found that cold weather typically reduced an electric LCV's range to around 72% of its official WLTP figure. Payload and towing had a further impact.

For fleets, that makes understanding how a vehicle is actually used important. How far does it travel each day? What does it carry? Where does it operate? When and where could it charge?

Joe Heidari, Group Sales Director at Herd Group, explains:

“The electrification process needs to be very much data-driven. And we can be very helpful in this initial fact-finding stage to give customers confidence when they decide which vehicles to electrify.”

Trying an electric van before making a longer-term commitment can help answer some of those questions. 43% of fleet decision-makers surveyed by Fleet News and Herd Group said they had used short-term rental electric vans to trial the technology and assess how it could fit their business.

The report also looks at where electric vans may be easier to introduce. Urban fleets with predictable mileage and vehicles returning to a depot each day can be well suited, particularly where charging can take place back at base.

But fleet requirements don't stand still. New contracts, different routes or changing workloads can alter what a vehicle needs to do.

That's why we don't think electrification needs to mean changing every vehicle at once. Looking at the data and understanding the job each vehicle needs to do can help identify where EVs could work now, and where another option may still be more appropriate.

Electric Vans: Moving to Net Zero takes a closer look at the findings and the practical considerations for fleets planning their next steps.