The Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP) has called for OEMs to “step up” and improve 12V battery technology on electric vans as it warns many eLCVS remain “unuseable”.

AFP members have reported electric vans being delivered with 12V battery problems

The fleet association has previously spoken out about widespread “bricking” issues with electric vans losing charge on the 12V battery when the vehicle is left unused for a couple of weeks.

AFP chair Paul Hollick warned that members were now reporting of electric vans being delivered in this state and having to reject them immediately, which Hollick said was completely unacceptable.

“It’s unavoidably having an impact on the appetite of some fleets to electrify their vans,” he elaborated.

“The handful of manufacturers involved – and this affects several models – have been quite different in their responses with some being faster to work towards a solution than others.”

Affected vehicles are impossible to start or recharge and have to be transported via trailer to a dealership.

Hollick said that members generally accepted that electric van adoption meant they were “close to the cutting edge of using new technology” with the possibility of teething issues.

But he added there was a general feeling that the 12V battery technology being used “lags some distance behind the advances in electric vehicle batteries that have been made in recent years, and a large perceived difference between the extremes of how much work these manufacturers appear to be putting into resolving the issue”.

The most commonly suggested solution by manufacturers was revised software that would preserve the 12V battery for longer.

“Some manufacturers are telling us that the new software is in progress and could be here in a matter of weeks or months, while others are much vaguer. The latter aren’t winning many friends among fleet operators.

“Also, it’s worth underlining that even where a fix is available, we are being told that the bricking problem is still likely to occur, it will just take longer to happen, which again underlines the weakness of the underlying technology. However, even if it could be extended to 3-4 weeks to take users over holiday periods, that would be a definite advantage and improvement in practicality.”

He added that fleets were having to improvise solutions, with some investing in solar panels to trickle charge the 12V battery, but this solution also had limitations.

“We know of one AFP member that is looking at spending £1m on solar panels, which provides some idea of the scope of the problem. This provides a fix but again, even though it potentially substantially lengthens the time taken, the van could still eventually brick. It’s looking more and more likely that this won’t be completely resolved until the next generation of electric vans. Manufacturers need to step up.”