Paul Hollick, chair of the Association of Fleet Professionals.

When it comes to electrification, fleets have, no doubt, already achieved a lot. Many have completed a long list of tasks: wholly redrawing choice lists; putting charging policies and equipment in place; getting drivers onboard; tackling operational limitations created by range issues and much more. Despite those moves forward, it looks as though future progress is going to be more difficult for many.

While the transition has involved a lot of work, what most fleet managers have been doing so far is picking the low hanging fruit, such as getting drivers with off-road parking into very low tax electric company cars. A relatively straightforward move compared to what comes next, which appears to be much more of a grind.

The electrification problems we’re now seeing fleets encounter are ones without any easy answers and which will take time to work through. A good example is on-street charging. A reasonable proportion of company car drivers don’t have off-road parking, probably because they live in a terraced house or apartment, so some form of nearby roadside, overnight charging is essential for them to adopt an EV. The alternative is that they spend time rapid charging at a public point, which is expensive and, in the longer term, bad for the battery. Yet, the amount of on-street charging available is very low and, while the Government is making funds available, there is no transformation in sight. Progress will be slow, it appears.

Another issue is that while the portfolio of available EV models is growing on a weekly basis, we’re tending to get more and more of the same – SUVs and saloons of varying sizes and levels of luxury. There are big gaps that are operationally essential to some fleets – notably pickups and proper 4x4s. Also, while the situation is improving, there are not enough quality, affordable, sub-£30K EVs that are suitable for fleet use.

A further concern is the used sector. For fleets to electrify successfully, a properly functioning used EV market that allows RVs to be forecast with a reasonable degree of certainty is essential. It’s still early days really, but the dramatic drops in values that have been seen over the last year or longer have made many important elements in the remarketing chain very nervous about EVs.

Having said all of this, there are definite bright spots for fleets as they continue to electrify. The general charging infrastructure is noticeably improving on almost a week-by-week basis. This doesn’t just apply to public charging – more and more businesses have comprehensive on-site charging and are making it available to visitors.

Also, with BiK rates published until 2027/28, the company car EV sector has a huge amount of stability when it comes to planning ahead. For most fleets, that’s a whole replacement cycle away. Employees know that they won’t be paying much at all for their company car well into the future.

Tackling electrification remains very much top of the agenda for the AFP. Dialogue about solving the issues outlined here and many others is shared every day, helping to develop and spread best practice solutions quickly and effectively. It’s a moment when being a member of the organisation is even more beneficial than usual.