Does It Make Business Sense To Run An Electric Van?

This is the big question a lot of van fleet businesses are asking and it's a question we started asking over two years ago in our article.

Back then we wrote about the limitations of current plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and called on the Government to incentivise businesses to invest in eco-friendly driving.

This week commercial vehicle manufacturer Iveco has questioned whether large electric panel vans will ever be viable in the UK, after admitting it has yet to sell a Daily Electric after four years on the market. It suggests that running an electric van makes no sense at present.

The root of the problem could be that while countries such as Italy and Germany offer generous discounts for fleets running green-fuelled vans, the UK Government is lagging far behind and needs to do more.

Pricing appears to be the main drawback. According to Iveco an electric model will cost around £50,000 more than a diesel one and, if you count up the fuel savings it would take eight years of average fleet mileage to get your money back.

Based on this, there is a strong argument that the Government should offer more cashback deals.

At present they offer ??8,000 across the board, which is a sizeable sum if you are buying a £17,000 Renault Kangoo ZE, but on a £65,000 vehicle it just isn't enough and the Government should introduce a sliding scale depending on the price of the van.