Fleets are rapidly moving towards electrification, chiefly because of the environmental benefits, although there are several other factors also largely at play.

Arval’s research found more than half of fleets (56%) cited a lower environmental impact as their main reason for either already having or planning to adopt AFVs

Research from Arval for the 2021 edition of its Mobility Observatory Barometer has found that more than half of fleets (56%) cited a lower environmental impact as their main reason for either already having or planning to adopt alternatively fuelled vehicles – in particular, battery electric vehicles.

But there are other motivations involved too. Following the 56% of respondents who said they were keen to lower environmental impact, 53% said reducing fuel expenses was a reason for adopting AFVs, followed by tax incentives (40%) and then the anticipation of future restrictive public policies (40%). Only 29% of employers said it was to fulfil employee requests; the least important reason cited for making the switch.

Shaun Sadlier, head of Arval Mobility Observatory in the UK, said: “The main takeaway from these findings is that this trend is being driven by a wide range of factors. Across all nine possible responses, there was reasonable support for every option.

“We believe that this is an accurate reflection of the motives of fleets at this point in time. They are planning to move rapidly towards electrification because of the environment, low taxation, competitive whole-life costs, corporate image and operational considerations, and all of these reasons are sound.

“This is why fleet adoption of BEVs is now happening very, very quickly. The number of factors that strongly supports their use as company cars and vans is resulting in considerable momentum.”