Opinion: What’s needed to drive EV transition

By Paul Holland, managing director of UK Fleet, Fleetcor, including Allstar

Sustainability is a hot topic for many global societies. This has never been clearer than for the transport and mobility sector and it has hit the headlines in recent months.

At the last COP 28 conference, a new deal was agreed at the UN climate summit in Dubai which called on all countries to move away from using fossil fuels. 

We’ll need to wait and see what the repercussions are from this announcement but the essence of the move away is not a new one.

Examining the bigger picture of transition

Take the UK, our nation has made great strides in the introduction and adoption of electric vehicles (EVs).

With increasing consumer demand and the greater availability of electric models, the number of electric cars in the UK is growing at a rapid rate.

As of the end of December 2023, there are now more than 975,000 fully electric cars on UK roads and a further 590,000 plug-in hybrids. The broader challenge on a global basis lies in the fact that all countries are transitioning at a different pace.

Outside of the UK the picture fluctuates. In Europe, the European Environment Agency (EEA) published a report in October that noted Germany, France and Norway together accounted for about 64% of all new EV registrations among the EU-27 and non-EU EEA countries.

Norway had the highest number of new BEVs registered in 2022, accounting for 79% of new car sales. That figure has risen further to ~90% in 2023.

While in the US momentum is also building nicely with EVs accounting for approximately 6.5% of new vehicle sales in the first half of 2023, according to a new report by the American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA) and it’s being led by the state of California.

The role of technology, stakeholders and Government

With this rate of change varying by continent and country, it places more of an emphasis on both the technology and solutions that are needed for drivers to manage the transition to electric. This is because it is a far more complex area than refuelling.

Today, we’re seeing vast improvements in infrastructure, public charge points, home charging solutions and EVs themselves.

But there is still some way to go before we’re at a point where it is as easy to recharge an EV as it is to refuel a traditional internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle. But where does the responsibility of driving this change come from?

Put simply, there are many stakeholders, including ourselves, that must push for improvement and push the dial further. We take our role and position as a market leader seriously, which is why I’m proud of what we’ve developed and excited about where we can go.

We’re simplifying a traditionally complex area of running a fleet, no more so than today where many businesses are operating mixed or grey fleets (electric and fuel).

Elsewhere, the Government has a critical role to play in driving the use and future incentivisation of EV to businesses:

• Lowering fuel prices: The start is support to lower the price of fuel. Whether fleets use petrol, diesel, electricity or, as is increasingly likely, a combination of all of the above, they are all reporting that the prices they pay at the plug or pump are eating away at their profits. 
• Infrastructure: I also feel that our infrastructure still needs support. Despite the huge rise in the number of EV charging points in the UK, there is less support for alternative fuels, which can significantly improve the sustainability of the UK’s fleets, especially those that use HGVs that cannot use electric charging. 
• Supporting smaller fleets: Finally, there needs to be extra support for smaller fleets: although a significant number of larger fleets are already using EVs, smaller companies often lack the ready cash to buy EVs. These smaller fleets make up a significant number of the vehicles on the road, so giving them incentives to be more flexible with the kinds of vehicles they use would make them more competitive and drive growth.

Overall, we’re at a critical juncture for fleets. There has never been as much exposure of the sustainability, nor as much appetite for consumers and fleets, alike in alternatively fuelled vehicles.

A joined-up strategy to support everyone is what will propel society towards a more sustainable future.