Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) dominated the business contract hire market (BCH) in Q3, illustrating the gathering pace of fleet decarbonisation.

Over half (51%) of the cars on the BVRLA lease fleet are now zero emission capable

The BVRLA’s latest Leasing Outlook Report reveals that BEVs accounted for almost half (47%) of all BCH deliveries in the three months from July to September. This was followed by plug-in hybrids with 25% and hybrid cars with 7%.

In total, 79% of new business contract hire cars that joined the BVRLA fleet in Q3 2023 are capable of driving in zero-emission mode. Petrol and diesel power accounted for just 15% and 4% of new BCH additions respectively.

This rapidly rising EV demand means over half (51%) of the association’s lease fleet cars are now zero emission capable.

But it warned that EV demand is far lower for personal contract hire (PCH) customers. Battery electric penetration of new PCH agreements was only 15% in Q3, three times lower than BCH, in a sector where petrol remains the driving force (62%).

Thanks to the green renewal, the BVRLA car lease fleet is now the cleanest it has ever been, with new additions in Q3 averaging carbon dioxide emissions of just 60.2g/km. But there’s a marked difference between the figure of 53.3g/km for new business contract hire cars and the 116.3g/km of new personal contract hire cars – underscoring the need for “a retail stimulus for electric cars as powerful as the Benefit-in-Kind tax rate has been for business drivers”.

The BVRLA says a workable operational solution for electric light commercial vehicles is equally pressing with the average emissions of the diesel LCV fleet actually rising quarter on quarter and year on year. The new ZEV mandate demands that sales of battery electric vans almost double in 2024 to 10% of total registration. While some end-user van fleets are switching to eLCVs as part of wider corporate sustainability objectives, many more find the range, payload and charging demands of eLCVs fall below their requirements.

In contrast, demand for leased ICE vans is soaring; up 3.3% and hitting 516,253 units. They’re now responsible for over a quarter of the total lease fleet.

The lease car fleet also saw growth, albeit lower at 1.8%, with the healthy performance of BCH offset by a small decline in PCH.

Thanks to the strong lease van and BCH growth, the BVRLA leasing fleet has reached a six-year high, recording 2.2% year-on-year growth to above 1.9 million vehicles – only beaten by the performance in Q4 2017.

The full report, which includes analysis from Auto Trader, Cap HPI and Fleet Assist is on the BVRLA website.