Price will be a major stumbling block to fleets choosing electric vehicles for the long term, according to Britain’s biggest van manufacturer.

Ford says that until problems surrounding vehicle range, battery development and cost of ownership, as well as the lack of a comprehensive recharging infrastructure are overcome, its strategy will focus on diesel power.

“We can introduce a battery-powered vehicle, but if in terms of cost of pence per mile it’s twice as much as a diesel-powered vehicle why would somebody take it,” said Ford’s commercial vehicle director Steve Clary.

“Unless your green credentials are such that you must have it, I struggle with the whole price proposition.

“I think in terms of the battery technology there’s an awful long way to go to enable us to get to a position where it even represents 10% of our sales.”

Instead, Clary says having introduced the Econetic range to Transit they will continue to take the technologies from that variant and flow that through to the wider range of products within the commercial range.

“Our strategy will be to concentrate on diesel power and eeking out every single improvement that we can in terms of efficiency of those power plants,” added Clary.

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