Fleets are expanding their choice lists to increase adoption of electric cars, alongside restricting petrol and diesel options, to ‘nudge’ drivers towards zero-emission vehicles.

Revising vehicle policies to include a broader choice of manufacturers opens up access to electric vehicles and potentially cuts delivery times, according to Arval

Arval UK said that revising vehicle policies to include a broader choice of manufacturers would open up access to electric vehicles and potentially cut delivery times under the current industry-wide shortages.

Ben Edwards, Arval UK consultant, explained that while both fleets and drivers are looking to go electric due to financial incentives, the widespread use of fleet policies limited to specific manufacturers’ badges was providing a barrier to adoption.

“This approach used to work well by concentrating buying power and simplifying choice lists, but really doesn’t offer drivers enough choice in the range of models which are available in the current EV market,” he added.

“What we have successfully been advising fleets to do is to keep manufacturer badge restrictions in place for petrol, diesel and plug-in hybrid models, but open them up partially or completely when it comes to EVs – and this is something that has been working well.”

Edwards added that fleets had most to gain when removing badge preferences for job-need cars – where the selection of EVs has been more limited than in the prestige end of the market.

“Here, by opening up choice lists, we are seeing some manufacturers make inroads into the fleet sector who have not necessarily been part of the core company car market in the past but are now able to provide strong EV models with comparatively good supply.”

Edwards outlined that Arval UK’s advice on EVs and choice lists consciously followed a policy of making electrification as simple as possible for fleets – speaking to Fleet World last year, the company urged fleets to stop overthinking EV adoption and not overcomplicate the process.

“As a company, we’ve consciously adopted a core message that EV adoption is simple, showing that if you look at whole-life costs, an electric car is not only practical from an operational point of view – saving your driver considerable amounts in tax – but it also makes sense for the organisation, as whole-life costs of EVs are often lower than a petrol or diesel equivalent.

“As we move beyond what you might call early adopter fleets into the mainstream, emphasising the core viability of electric cars alongside their obvious taxation and environmental advantages is the key to driving greater uptake. It’s all about making the electrification process both easy and effective.”

Arval also recently launched a new white paper designed to help fleets overcome industry supply challenges. The guide is the latest element of its ‘The Journey Goes On’ campaign and outlines a range of solutions to help fleet managers.