What he has in mind is the weight of a zero-emission electric van’s batteries. It means that an operator who wants to go electric has to specify a heavier vehicle if he wants to maintain the same payload capacity as his existing diesel 3.5-tonners. Having done so, however, he may find that many of his employees will have to take a separate test in order to drive it.

“In France you get a 300kg bonus which puts an electric 3.8-tonner in the same category as a diesel 3.5-tonner insofar as licensing is concerned,” Emms says. He’d like to see the UK government adopt the same policy. “Alternative fuels and alternative drive systems are expensive and few operators can justify the additional cost,” he continues. “Their use has to be incentivised and the penalties associated with using them removed.”

The government has already introduced one measure to encourage van owners to switch to battery power. In his pre-Budget statement late last year, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, said that firms that opt to run electric commercials can now enjoy 100 per cent capital allowances. This means that operators can write down the entire cost of buying them during their first year of ownership.

Battery-powered vans cost considerably less to run than their diesel counterparts, but are up to three times more expensive. The tax incentive should help to bridge the cost gap. Iveco is launching a battery version of its new Daily in the UK under the EcoDaily Electric banner.

Emms was speaking at Iveco’s annual State of the Nation press conference; and the mood was understandably somewhat sombre.

2.8 – 6.5 tonnes

Sales of vans grossing at from 2.8 to 6.5 tonnes — the sector Daily competes in — plummeted by a painful 39.9 per cent last year, from 147,531 to 88,707; the lowest market for more than a decade.