Carbon reduction driving fleet van switch, says Northgate

The driving force behind van fleets making the switch to electric vans from internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles is carbon reduction, according to a fleet poll.  

More than 50 fleets that attended Northgate’s Reading Drive to Zero two-day EV roadshow shared views on their electrification journey, with half of respondents giving carbon reduction as their main motivation for reducing emissions.

More than one-in-five (22%) said they are motivated by the potential cost savings of moving from diesel to electric, while the same proportion (22%) said their electrification journey was all about fulfilling customer requirements.

Just 3% said that they were not feeling any pressure to move away from diesel, while almost one-in-10 fleets – some 9% – admitted to not having given any consideration to starting tmaking the switch.

Almost two thirds (63.6%) said they were just starting out on their journey, while just over one-in-five (21.2%) respondents said they were already moving to zero emission vehicles.

Despite this positive approach to carbon reduction, fleets remain concerned at the cost and implementation of the transition process, according to Northgate.

Just over one third (36.3%) said cost was a major concern, while a similar amount (33.3%) said implementing the change was set to be their biggest challenge.

Meanwhile, almost one-in-seven fleets (15.1%) said they were concerned at both charging and vehicle choice in equal measure, especially when looking to replace diesel light commercial vehicles (LCVs) with equivalent electric vehicles (EVs).

Melanie Creedy, Northgate’s EV business development manager, said: “Everybody’s journey is different, but whatever stage they are at, cost and implementation consistently keep coming up as their main challenge.”

These latest trends from Reading add to survey results from 70 fleets who attended Northgate’s EV roadshows held in Cannock, Snodland and Darlington earlier in 2023 where cost, implementation and charging infrastructure were the top three concerns.

The roadshows have been so popular that Bolton and Bristol are planned in 2023 with more locations to follow in 2024.