Fleet industry concern over phase-out date for new non-electric vans

Date: Thursday, July 13, 2023 | Author: Sean Keywood

Van fleets are facing a struggle to cope with the scheduled end of new diesel and petrol van sales in 2030, it has been said.

BVRLA director of corporate affairs Toby Poston said he was concerned about the date outlined by the UK Government for ICE-engined new LCV sales to end being the same as for cars.

Speaking on a panel organised by communications agency Stand, on the subject ‘Are we on the cusp of a mobility tipping point?’, Poston said: “An area we are really worried about is we’ve got the same phase-out trajectory as cars for vans, where we’ve got that 2030 [ICE ban] target and then 2035 even not using hybrids.

“We’re just not getting the type of product we need, that fleets out there need to deliver, and that’s a real problem at the moment.”

In addition, Poston also said that fleets could face problems from difficulties in upgrading grid connections at depots to be able to cope with mass EV charging.

He said: “I talk to people who are looking at sort of corporate warehouse and logistics hubs, and where they used to advertise the top item used to be square footage, it’s now the energy capacity.

“You get government guidance saying people who are used to going back to depots don’t need on-street charging or motorway charging, but if you talk to people like DHL and Amazon, on their sites they’ve got grid capacity for about 5% of their fleets. So where are those vehicles going to charge? People don’t want them charging on motorways or at local charge points.”

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