TRL Report highlights fleet barriers to electric van uptake
The Government has commissioned the Transport Research Laboratry (TRL) to research and report on the barriers to electric van adoption, so to better understand driving and charging patterns of electric vans and smart charging technology.
Overall operators and drivers that took part in the survey were supportive of electric vans, however many reported that electric van models available don’t provide the ability to travel the daily distances without recharge, and operators were reluctant to alter their operational model to account for additional charging.
Research found that the operators that took part in the survey who had electric vans in their fleet were only using them for the shorter distance trips or where drive distances were consistent and electric vehicles only made-up part of their fleet.
The perception of operators is also that there is not currently a cost effective and feasible wat to charge. Many don’t use a back to depot model meaning they would be reliant on public charge points which can be expensive and take more time. Often these points are also hard to find, are out of order and don’t allow for larger vehicles.
A number of recommendations were suggested within the report to overcome the barriers that were highlighted.
- Support vehicle manufacturers to improve vehicle range technology
- Continue to mandate the use of shared, real-time charge point data to provide information such as waiting time and space sizes
- Consider expanding existing grants or create new ones
- Help operators to understand infrastructure and home charging
- Consider reserving some public charging for commercial vehicles
- Create knowledge sharing community
- Manufacturers and trade associations should work together to provide demonstrator vehicles to businesses
Read the full report here:
https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/676892cde6ff7c8a1fde9d03/electric-van-research-main-findings-report.pdf