Growth from below, driven by genuine demand for the benefits of EVs, will eventually be necessary. Driving up demandīut these initiatives, welcome as they may be, are vulnerable to changes in government thinking. EVs receive exemptions on both road tax and company car tax, low-carbon vehicles are waived the London congestion charge and public sector fleets can benefit from recently announced subsidies for ultra-low emission vehicles. Some of this change is simply a response to government incentives. Notable public sector fleets have trialled pure electric cars including 30 EVs for West Midland’s police, whilst commercial firms such as British Gas, keen to promote its charging services, aims to switch 10% of its vehicles to pure electric by 2015. Major delivery firms DHL, Fedex, TNT and UPS all have electric vehicles complementing their fleet, with UPS alone boasting 380 hybrid trucks. There are “green” EV taxi services from places as diverse as London and St. There are around 1,000 hybrid or fully electric buses funded through the Green Bus Fund on UK roads, with nearly a quarter in the capital. Fuel prices, tax and incentives for low-carbon transport, improvements in technology and the greater availability of electric vehicles are now making commercial procurement managers and transport operators think seriously about going electric.įor keen-eyed observers, a quiet transformation can be seen across the transport, logistics and commercial sectors. In fact EV technology has long been used in regulated sectors such as indoor material handling (forklift, pallet trucks, powered stackers) or early morning milk deliveries, where regulations prohibit emissions or noise. Petrol and diesel-fuelled vehicles benefit from a lower up-front cost, better range and established refuelling points EVs offer cheaper running costs, zero tail-pipe emissions, low noise and the ability to charge where ever there is a power supply. To understand why, it’s important to recognise that EVs are not a like-for-like replacement for your standard car with an internal combustion engine. It is in fact the business owner, fleet manager and procurement officers who are beginning to take a hard look at the benefits offered by EVs and are likely to be the driving force to mainstream adoption. ![]() ![]() ![]() The answer is: forget California or Tokyo, think the company accountant of your local delivery firm. It’s not hard to see why: at around £22,000 for the more affordable Nissan Leaf, and minimal resale market, it’s tough to see who beyond the early adopters are likely to take the gamble. In Western Europe plug-in EVs made up less than 0.5% of total passenger car sales by May this year. Yet for all the hype, EVs remain more common in glossy magazines than in peoples’ driveways. Tesla’s Model S was named Automobile Magazine’s Car of the Year, the Nissan Leaf is topping the EV sales ranks and the industry is abuzz with anticipated sales impact of BMW’s super-light i3. If press coverage is any measure, it appears that electric vehicles (EVs) have finally arrived.
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