Exempting some key commercial vehicles from internal combustion engine (ICE) sales bans could help support fleet managers with work to electrify their fleet.

FleetCheck MD Peter Golding said there was a growing argument that some essential-use vehicles should be exempted from the ICE bans

While operators can see a pretty clear pathway to meeting the ICE production deadlines of 2030 for light vans and 2035 for heavy vans, FleetCheck said difficulties remained around the electrification of a relatively low number of vehicles used in specialised roles.

And the fleet management software specialist emphasised there was a growing argument that some essential-use vehicles should be exempted.

Peter Golding, managing director, said: “There are a number of vehicle roles that are not easily electrified in terms of fulfilling basic requirements. Examples include certain blue light vehicles such as ambulances and off-roaders used by power companies in the event of outages.

“If you have an ambulance with a real-world range of 100 miles and a recharge time running into several hours, then its utility in a crisis is potentially severely compromised. Not having that vehicle available could have a serious human cost.

“These difficulties are compounded in more remote areas where charging infrastructure development is likely to be slower. Fixing power outages in the Highlands requires an operational flexibility that electric pick-ups and 4x4s would not be able to easily supply in terms of current technology.”

Golding added that electrifying vehicles in these kinds of applications was possible – but was difficult, expensive and consumed amounts of resources that were difficult to justify.

And he said the current thinking was that operators should be able to concentrate electrifying car and van fleets without having to try to resolve issues around vehicles for which solutions remain very difficult.

“Even if the deadlines on these essential-use vehicles was set back just five years, it would allow easier electrification across the vast majority of fleets. We could then move on to these trickier cases that would be easier to tackle because industry knowledge about EVs would be so much higher and the infrastructure in a much more advanced state of development.”

FleetCheck also noted that the new EU policy on ceasing ICE production exempts manufacturers below 1,000 units completely.

“So, while that no longer directly affects the UK, there will potentially continue to be some petrol, diesel and hybrid production,” he added.

“The fleet vehicles that we are highlighting represent a tiny fraction of the overall parc and the miles it covers. Not electrifying them for a few additional years after 2030 and 2035 would have a very, very limited environmental impact.”