The market share of battery electric vans remained steady between 2023 and 2024, with new battery electric van registration volumes rising just 3.3% in December last year.
The market share of battery electric vehicles within the van market was 6.3% for both years, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said.
The trade body said that a “tough investment environment” in the sector meant very minor growth, a bad sign so early in the mandated shift: “Such incremental growth in uptake in the first year of the UK’s ambitious Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate reflects the immense challenge ahead to accelerate the decarbonisation of light commercial vehicles.”
Action taken by the sector included huge manufacturer investment, seeing 33 different zero emission van models to choose from in 2024, with more than half (52.4%) of all new models being electric.
However, there is little specialist charging infrastructure for light commercial vehicles (LCVs) which, SMMT says, is undermining fleet confidence in the viability of going electric. This can be seen in comparison to electric cars, for which charging infrastructure has been effectively rolled out, where fleet sales accounted for 59.6% of all new car registrations.
According to Trade association Logistics UK, which represents the logistics sector including transport, the government’s Zero Emission Vans: Regulatory Flexibility consultation is an opportunity to deliver regulatory alignment and prevent legacy legislation from inhibiting EV uptake in the future.
Currently, regulations classify vehicles by weight. However, an electric van of the same size as one powered by an internal combustion engine (ICE) will weigh more, moving it into a different category closer to heavy goods vehicles (HGVs).
Logistics UK said: “From an operational point of view, the vehicles are the same and aligning regulations will make it easier to integrate electric vehicles into fleets. Removing the requirement for tachographs and drivers’ hours restrictions that are intended for HGVs means there would be no disruption to shift patterns. In addition, annual roadworthiness checks could be carried out in the comprehensive MOT network instead of the heavy vehicle testing system.”
The legislative environment in the UK has been criticised by car manufacturers as the government’s mandated EV sales quotas come into effect. In its figures for December 2024 new car sales, SMMT said that the target for 2024 was missed, although analysis by the Energy and Climate Intelligence Unit (ECIU) countered this claim.
Notably, BMW Mercedes and Hyundai all exceeded their targets for EV sales, but Ford, which has been vocally against the ZEV mandate recently, fell short.
The ZEV mandate threshold for 2025 is for 28% of manufacturers’ sales to be EVs which would require a market uplift of just under 50%. In the face of this, and industry pushback, the government is consulting on the ZEV mandate requirements and the ban on internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles.
Mike Hawes, SMMT chief executive, said: “The industry is hurting; profitability and viability are in jeopardy and jobs are on the line.”
European car market also hit by EV targets
Yesterday (7 January), Reuters reported that car manufacturer Renault had reduced the price of its Dacia brand low-cost EV by €2000 (£1664) as many are expected to do this year in Europe to boost EV sales.
The European Union is due to bring in stricter emissions rules that say at least one-fifth of all European car sales must be EVs if car companies want to avoid heavy fines. However, only 13% of vehicles sold in the region during the first 11 months of 2024 were electric according to the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association.
There is the underlying threat that cheaper EVs manufactured in China will outsell domestically made cars and this, combined with the potential fines for not selling enough EVs, means prices are dropping across the market.
The onus is falling on policymakers to incentivise consumers to buy EVs. In the UK, this could see financial support for private buyers of the sort that is already available for fleet operators—such a system has been proven to work.
