The number of electric trucks and vans on roads in the U.K. increased by 31% over the last 12 months, but still sits well below 2% of all commercial vehicles, according to a study from consulting firm Inverto.
In raw figures, the number of electric freight vehicles (EVs) on U.K. roads grew to 88,787 in the last year compared to 67,678 in the previous 12 months. Nevertheless, these vehicles still represent only 1.4% of the total 6.2 million freight vehicles in that country.
The increased sales have been driven by the imperative for both car manufacturers and logistics companies operating freight vehicles to meet corporate and governmental decarbonization targets. Specifically, curbing Scope 3 emissions is now a requirement in many private and public sector contracts, as well as commercial contracts.
However, Inverto forecasts that EV adoption will remain low, since the U.K. government is indicating that it will lower its EV adoption goals as industries reassess their emissions targets.
“The expansion of the commercial EV sector is expected to continue slowly. The main commercial EV expansion challenge facing logistics firms is the high cost of purchasing or leasing EV freight fleets. High interest rates make it more difficult for fleet operators to finance commercial EVs,” Kiren Pandya, principal at Inverto, said in a release. “Given the higher prices of EV vehicles, the cost of financing has become a key barrier to adoption, despite the growing number of green policy initiatives, such as the pledge to reach net-zero emissions by 2035,” Pandya said.
The report also found certain practical challenges which are slowing the transition. For example, limitations to current battery technology means that there are very few options for switching Heavy Goods Vehicles (HGVs) to electric. “While many fleet companies are encouraged or even required to transition to commercial EVs as part of their contractual obligations with clients following strong sustainability policies, the broader uptake remains slow,” Pandya said.
