New managerial solutions may be needed for some fleets to address the inherent operational limitations of van electrification.
Peter Golding, managing director of Fleet Software Specialist, said it was becoming increasingly clear that compromises in terms of range and payload would have unavoidable real-world implications for a significant minority of operators.
He said: "Fleets have found that car electrification is a relatively simple matter. Electric cars can be substituted for their petrol and diesel counterparts in most cases without any real problems.
“For some van operators, the situation is similar. If your driver has access to home charging and your eLCV probably doesn't cover more than 120 miles a day with a light load, everything is relatively simple.
"However, if you need the van to cover a long motorway trip with full load on a cold day, and your driver is one of those people who doesn't have access to off-street parking and therefore no charger can be applied, then the picture is completely different.
“For some fleets, this means that electric vans are incompatible with their current operations. Some are hanging on to see if hydrogen will emerge as an option, but it remains a challenge due to the absence of refueling infrastructure. There is a modest choice. The bottom line is that there may be a need to find new operational solutions to enable electrification. The way your fleet is currently organized and used may no longer be suitable.”
Golding said the fleet was beginning to discuss a range of possible options, with some very creative thinking being proposed.
“One idea that is gaining some traction is the possibility of using vans as shared transportation resources. For example, this could work for courier companies. The use of three electric vans on the same long delivery route Instead of committing, the three can be shared in shorter runs.
"There's also the matter of exploring what's called backloading in the world of heavy goods, where the effort is to ensure that no vehicle returns from an ongoing long delivery with an empty payload, rather than be effectively rented out to a third party."
Golding said there may also be a need to adopt new methods that will change the work day of employees, shifting charging time into the structure of their work.
“Most route planning is currently done on the premise that mileage and payload are effectively unlimited but this will obviously change. It may be that routes will need to be planned where the driver brakes around access to the charging point. and in fact, this is something that is already happening in the fleet where ELCVs are being adopted.
Golding said the fleet sector needed to be generally open about the subject and adopt a knowledge-sharing approach, where best practice experience was widely discussed.
“The fact remains that, outside of some major businesses, electric vans are rare and operational experience has so far been relatively limited. What is needed is a very open-ended discussion about real-world solutions that will most effectively drive the fleet.” able to operate properly.
“We are certainly encouraging this across our user base and some other organisations, notably AFP, are also setting up excellent platforms. Van electrification means fleet management will have to change for some fleets, and the key to a successful transition over the next few years will be identifying solutions that work for all.