The future of electric vans is promising despite fleet barriers to take-up, a new Venson Automotive Solutions white paper finds.

The white paper insists that there are sparks of hope for electric vans and that rapid change is possible

Published as the Government pledges to work with the automotive sector to increase EV take-up, the ‘Living Your Best e-Van Life’ white paper acknowledges considerable hurdles to adoption, including slow infrastructure progress, the confusion over regulations for the 4.25-tonne derogation and end-of-life considerations that have led to disappointing uptake.

But the white paper insists that there are sparks of hope and that rapid change is possible.

Aside from the Government opening consultation to review its zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate, Venson says there are other reasons to be optimistic about the future of eLCVs, including encouraging trends in the resale market, and paradigm shifts in addressing the skills gap.

Due to the lessons learnt from electric cars, most eLCV fleet operators are already expert in electric van service maintenance and repair (SMR).

Welcome progress is also being made on recycling and end-of-life solutions for batteries. And organisations specialising in dedicated lithium recycling and battery recycling are making comprehensive investments, which bodes well for a more sustainable end-of-life cycle for EV batteries.

While this might be hard to perceive for fleet managers, Venson argues that the rapid pace of 21st century change is already making a difference.

Simon Staton, client management director at Venson, said: “Think back just five years, Covid was virtually unheard of, Ford had not yet launched the E-Transit, and Mercedes was celebrating the 90-mile range of the new eVito. Surpassing 100 miles felt like the holy grail! In today’s world, change is relentless, and the hard-hitting reality is that vans are responsible for 40% of all logistics industry pollution, underscoring the urgency for transition.”

He added: “Competition on pricing and aftersales is picking up and the latest electric van are more enticing than ever.

“It is a strong bet that the key to widespread electric van adoption lies in good old ‘carrot and stick’ generous incentives to go green, along with rising diesel taxes. The challenge, however, lies in striking the right balance to make e-van adoption accessible and appealing to all, so every user can truly embrace their ‘best electric van life’.”

Venson’s white paper on electric vans is online here.