The new van market continued its rebound in May, but the industry says “every lever must be pulled to support the electric switch”.

The SMMT says “every lever must be pulled to support the electric switch”

New figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) reveal a 15.3% year-on-year rise in van registrations to 25,359 units. It’s the fifth consecutive month of rising demand, although registrations remain 13.0% below the pre-pandemic 2019 level.

Take-up of fully electric vans continued to soar, up by a fifth (19.8%) to 1,041 units. This represents around one in 24 new vans, showing strong progress but still some distance behind the new car market, where the BEV market share is three times greater.

For the year to date, a total of 7,028 all-electric vans have been registered; an increase of 15.5% on the same period last year.

The arrival of the ZEV mandate next year, which will set a minimum quota for new zero-emission registrations for every manufacturer, will boost this further but concerns remain over adequate charging provision for commercial vehicle operators – and the van sector continues to call for regulated infrastructure targets to help reassure van operators to make the switch.

Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said: “A van market rebound is an opportunity to deliver an increasingly environmentally sustainable recovery and a boost to the economy. But every lever must be pulled to support the electric switch. With the forthcoming ZEV mandate, we also need a national plan to deliver public charging infrastructure that encourages plug-in van uptake, to give the UK confidence over what can – and must – be a stable, successful transition for businesses up and down the country.”

Sue Robinson, chief executive of the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA), also warned that eLCV takeup needs a rethink to drive adoption: “Government’s approach to mass adoption of EV LCVs needs to differ from the EV car sector as home-charging is a less viable option. Government must offer financial incentives to operators and the reassurance to drivers that a credible and reliable charging network will be delivered.

“With the ZEV mandate starting in 2024, it will drive manufactures to increase their production of EV vans. Many dealers have expressed concerns that part of this will include EV sales target increases and price increases on diesel LCVs to offset the price reductions on EV commercials and increase market demand.”