Over half of van drivers will switch to electric, but only if barriers are removed
Mon, 07 Oct 2024
More than half of van drivers have said they'd consider a switch to electric power, but only if existing barriers to ownership are removed.
In a study carried out by Europcar Vans & Trucks, a total of 52% of non-electric van drivers said they were prepared to switch but there are still some significant hurdles to overcome.
Poor availability of charging points was named as the biggest barrier (29%), followed by the costs of buying an electric van in the first place (27%) and insurance costs (25%). Almost a quarter (24%) said having to stop and charge was also inconvenient.
When asked what would encourage them to switch, 38% of respondents cited lower purchase costs as the biggest incentive and 31% said better battery range, especially in laden vehicles.
Tom Middleditch, head of electric mobility at Europcar, said: “The barriers holding back van users remain clear – cost and charging. Of course charging infrastructure is improving, but as the Zero Emission Van Plan has already identified, charging that is fit for purpose for van users is still limited.”
Middleditch added that the key was to get more van users to test electric vans to really understand what adjustments need to be made to minimise impact on performance and productivity.
Another key factor in uptake is the ongoing growth of Clean Air Zones in the UK. Almost three-quarters (72%) of those surveyed said they are affected by the growing number of Clean Air Zones across the UK and 38% saying that they aren't confident they understand the rules – potentially leading to unexpected fines for non-compliant vehicles.
