THIS bleak message was delivered by BVRLA CEO Gerry Keaney during a panel session at yesterday’s Fleets in Charge Conference at the QEII Conference Centre in London (10 July 2024).
It set the tone for a downbeat assessment of the association’s view of overall progress in its annual Road to Zero report, where company cars and salary sacrifice were driving the electric market, but where electric vans were “in crisis” according to the report and the used EV market in freefall.
Keaney continued: “We have 1 million electric vehicles on the road and it’s important to learn from that data. Where there’s support for the market, it makes a huge difference to take up; where there’s no support – such as retail and vans – it is struggling.”
The latest Road to Zero Report, produced in association with Ricardo, combines up-to-date industry data and analysis with insights from senior stakeholders representing all corners of the vehicle rental, leasing, fleet management, and associated sectors. It presents the hard data supported by expert analysis and commentary that the new Labour Government will need to listen to. “Armed with the insights in this report, we are ready to further those discussions right now,” he added.
Toby Poston Director of Corporate Affairs outlined the key findings of the BVRLA report at the beginning of the conference, noting that supply and demand needed to be aligned and that the KPIs in the report showed where the market was working – and where red lights were flashing in a market out of kilter.
The business car leasing market remained strong, he said, driven by salary sacrifice and company car schemes.
Salary sacrifice schemes accounted for 84% of leased EVs on the overall BVRLA fleet, while company cars were 44% and UK wide take up was just 16%.
But for vans, the demand had stalled, while personal EV leasing reflected a UK-wide trend with a slight decrease.
But with the collapse in the used EV market, Poston said there was a real risk that leasing rates would be pushed higher to compensate.
Charging costs unfair
The variance in charging costs between rapid and ultra rapid chargers and home charging was another area where the market was not working correctly, Poston pointed out.
However, he acknowledged the success of the roll out of charging infrastructure, which was on course to have 300,000 chargepoints installed by 2030.
Meanwhile the number of vehicles under £30,000 was severely lacking and the cost of electric vans remained too high with none below the £30k mark.
Access to suitable charging infrastructure was also an issue for eLCVs.
EV running costs remain a complex area
There was a mixed picture on the overall running costs of electric vehicles. Poston reported that EVs were cheaper to run than ICE vehicles, but there were other factors impacting the smooth running of EVs. These included:
- Repair times and variation of costs around the country
- The type and extent of the damage
- The specific make and model
- The availability of parts
- And the cost impact of technician rates
According to the report, repair times on EVs are 14% longer and incident claims are 26% higher.
Photo credit: Vivid Brands / Shutterstock.com
Read the full Road to Zero Report
Access the report by clicking here: https://roadtozero.co.uk
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Ralph Morton is the leading journalist in the leasing broker sector and editor of Broker News, the website which provides information and news for BVRLA-registered leasing brokers. He also writes extensively on the fleet and leasing market in both the UK and Europe.
