Electric vans spend less time in the workshop

ELECTRIC vans are spending less time in the workshop for servicing compared to ICE and hybrid counterparts, according to new data from epyx.

The findings, drawn from the 1link Service Network platform, which manages service, maintenance, and repair (SMR) for over five million vehicles, reveal a clear trend of shorter servicing times for EVs across the first four years of ownership.

In year one, electric vans averaged just 0.74 hours in servicing, compared to 1.05 hours for ICE and 1.15 for hybrid models. This efficiency gap persists, with EVs consistently clocking lower service times. Only in year four do ICE vehicles edge slightly ahead.

“This data aligns with industry predictions,” says Tim Meadows, CCO at epyx. “Electric vans, with fewer moving parts, were expected to require less maintenance, and we’re seeing that play out.”

However, the picture isn’t entirely rosy for eLCVs

When it comes to vehicle off-road (VOR) times, ICE and hybrid models currently hold the advantage.

Across all four years, EVs show longer VOR times, potentially due to factors like nascent servicing infrastructure and parts availability, says epyx.

“The EV servicing landscape is still evolving,” Meadows acknowledges. “VOR times could improve rapidly as the sector matures.”

Hybrids a mixed bag

While their service times are generally longer than both EVs and ICE vehicles, they demonstrate increasingly competitive VOR times, particularly in later years.

Year one shows ICE at 1.82 hours, electric at 1.96 and hybrid at 2.14.
Year two, the figures are ICE 2.00 hours, hybrid 2.06 and electric 2.07.
Year three, hybrid shows the best times, with 2.10 hours, ICE 2.21 and electric 2.56.
Year four, it’s hybrid 2.38 hours, ICE 2.63 and electric 2.91.

“However, the rate of change when it comes to the electrification of the fleet market means that this is a very dynamic picture and could change quite quickly,” warned Meadows. “We plan to rerun this data in a few months and it will be interesting to see how the picture has developed then.”