A significant majority of British fleets want faster charging infrastructure in order to reduce vehicle downtime…
Faster Charging, Less Downtime
Over three-quarters of large fleet decision-makers (73%) want faster charging technology for electric vehicles. Ultimately, they want it to be able to compete with a typical five-minute refueling process. This, they claim, would be a major boon for employee productivity, by significantly reducing vehicle downtime.
As far as company cars are concerned, 43% of them are making frequent, national business trips. Those that are electric, via a combination of lengthy charging periods and a lack of reliable infrastructure, face significant downtime.
This is all according to AutoFocus, Cox Automotive’s quarterly insight roundup, which examines issues within the fleet sector. Ian Richardson, managing director of the 360 Media Group (which participated in the research), has called charging infrastructure a ‘critical’ issue. He said, “future EV investment requires better charging infrastructure – the ratio of chargers to EVs will soon become a critical measure, particularly in cities and clean air zones”.
‘Dipping Toes’
Generally, fleets are embracing electrification. Philip Nothard, insight and strategy director at Cox Automotive, said “there used to be so many obstacles to EV adoption to overcome – fast forward to 2019 and UK fleets had started to dip their toes into the EV pool, ordering their first electric cars. Favourite models included the Nissan Leaf, Tesla Model 3 and Volkswagen e-Golf”.
Many obstacles, however, remain. Nothard explained, “there needs to be greater certainty around benefit in kind (BIK) tax tables beyond 2024/25. The taxation may not be as high as the 37% BIK tax levied on many ICE vehicles, but the higher list price of BEVs means the impact on drivers’ tax bills would be significant”.
He continued, “the end of the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme has also reinforced the desire to bundle the cost of a home charger with the monthly leasing rental – 57% of fleets have requested this. Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of EVs is also an issue for a third of fleets, who are unsure if they can compete with internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles”.
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