New-to-market brands fail to address fleet requirements

The limited success of new entrants in the electric vehicle (EV) space has been driven, in part, by a lack of fleet industry understanding.

No fewer than four new commercial vehicle brands have failed to launch successfully in the past year, while others continue to struggle against established rivals.

“They never listened,” said Lorna McAtear, head of fleet at National Grid, “they brought out what they thought was needed and what they thought we should take.”

The likes of Arrival, Canoo, Tevva and Nikola have all promised innovative new electric commercial vehicles but have failed to integrate key elements that make them suitable for fleets and therefore unable to secure significant orders.

Volta Trucks was heading in the same direction but was bailed out via an acquisition in April 2024. It is yet to deliver any vehicles, however.

Speaking to January's Fleet News at 10, McAtear added: “I've worked closely with a lot of those companies; trying to help them through, trying to explain what it is that we want, why we need these certain safety standards, how the unions are going to react to it, how we want the SMR afterwards, all of the layers of what is needed.

“Some listened, some didn't and some tried but kind of still got stuck and didn't understand it.”

“There are too many things that you have to bear in mind in terms of safety and operational efficiency, and that's the bit fleets are after. It's the safety and operational efficiency.

“If it can't do what we need it to do, we're not going to buy it.”

Nikola is the most recent casualty, declaring bankruptcy earlier this month. The Arizona-based firm was developing a range of electric and hydrogen trucks and did have some models on the road in North America. It showcased one model at the 2023 CV Show.

Its founder, Trevor Milton, was jailed in 2023 for deliberately misleading investors after showing them footage of a driving truck which was actually a non-functioning model rolling down a hill.

Similarly, Canoo, another US-based business, ceased all operations in January after running out of money while trying to launch its LDV130 cargo van.

Canoo’s product was based on a drive-by-wire skateboard platform, allowing for different bodies and enhanced customisation options.

Canoo produced a number of vehicles and supplied them to The United States Postal Service, Department of Defense, and NASA. It was actively seeking UK-based businesses to trial its new model.

Closer to home, Tevva Motors had started production of a new electric truck in Tilbury, Essex. The company had agreements in place with Royal Mail and Travis Perkins to trial the vehicle, which had a range of 140 miles.

It entered administration in April 2024, just two months after Arrival went bust.

Arrival started out as a British business, with a headquarters in Banbury. In 2022, the business shifted its focus away from UK production and moved its operation to the USA where it aimed to fulfil an order for 10,000 units to UPS.

Dale Eynon, fleet director at Defra, said: “We had lots of conversations with Arrival and we had a couple of conversations with Canoo. What they were promising wasn't quite right for what we wanted. They seemed to be aiming for a very specific piece of the market.”

Outside of the commercial vehicle sector, car maker Fisker also went out of business during 2024. UK deliveries of its Ocean SUV had just started but an aftersales mechanism was never established. This left early adopters with no warranty and no service provision.

Eynon added: “For fleet operators it's one issue but for leasing companies it's an even harder thing, because do you want to take a risk on a brand that might not have any servicing or repairs within 12 months?”

Duncan Webb, fleet director at the The AA, believes that disruptors are needed “to make the traditional brands actually get on with it”.

He said “There's just a horrible cycle we see where most of those fail. Electric might not be the only technology that we need over the long run. Are we going to see the cycle again when it comes to a hydrogen? Are we going to see really ambitious, disruptive companies crash and burn?”

Giving a leasing company perspective, Alan Bastey, customer relationship director at Zenith, said: “You want the disruptors to drive change and innovation. It's incredibly hard. That is one tough gig to get to try and break into that market.

“Where you've got these promises of vehicles that don't really hit the road, it's a different proposition than if a more mature, established player fell by the wayside.

“Established brands are where people understand the risk. There's loads of data from that on it, and you can manage it properly.”

For fleet managers, the challenge is outlined by Eynon: “Do we want to be pioneers or do we want to be early adopters?

“I think most of us want to be early adopters, at best, because pioneering has got all sorts of risk and there's a limited amount of risk your company can take on board.

“They need to listen a bit more to their early entry market, which is going to be fleets.”