Fleets are now deploying electric vans in a similar way to diesel vans in terms of route selection, according to John Peters of leasing company Arval.
Peters was commenting on findings from Arval’s Mobility Observatory research, showing that more operators were using or planning to use electric vans to cover more than 100 miles per day, than to cover less than that distance.
Peters, head of the Arval Mobility Observatory in the UK, said: “This question provides fascinating results that to some extent, contradict the more pessimistic commentary that has emerged in the last couple of years around electric van adoption.
“They indicate that operators are not limiting their electric van ambitions to local routes. In fact, a basic calculation suggests the majority of these vehicles are covering 25,000 or more miles a year.
“Clearly, these fleets are successfully overcoming the kind of range and payload objections that we hear about electric vans, and are using them in a similar, intensive manner as they would diesel panel vans.”
Peters added that compared with the previous year’s research, there had been some reductions in the percentage of fleets operating electric vans over sub-100-mile distances daily – down from 25% to 18% among small vans and 24% to 17% among medium vans.
He said: “To an extent, these trends suggest the real-world experience of fleets over time is that electric van operation is less compromised than the general narrative suggests.”
