News


Van use statistics revealed National van fleet hits 4.1m


The Department for Transport (DfT) has published its Van Statistics April 2019-March 2020 report, a survey of van activity within the UK. This is the DfT’s first statistical research into the sector for a decade and the report showed that there were 4.1m vans on the roads during this period, travel- ling round 55bn miles a year. The survey demonstrated that 54% of vans were used to carry equip- ment, tools and materials, 16% were employed in delivery and collection of goods and a further 16% were reg- istered for private, non-business use. More than half of the vans kept by businesses were new (57%), with 35% owned outright and 22% in a hire pur- chase agreement. Around 82% of pri- vate vans were second hand.


More than two thirds of vans trav- el on rural or local roads regularly, while only 39% of vans regularly use motorways. Perhaps reinforcing the case for electric vans, 51% of those questioned stay within 15 miles of their operating base on a typical day. That said, 96% of the vans registered by the end of 2019 were diesel-pow- ered, with just 0.3% considered to be ultra-low emission.


Around two thirds of van fleets


(65%) have less than 10 vans, with 31% having 2-5 LCVs. Only 9% of fleets have more than 100 vans, while 8% have 51-100 on the fleet. Unsurpris- ingly, those fleets with more than 100 vans were also found to be the most likely to have at least one ultra-low emissions vehicle (31%).


Just 39% of vans use motorways regularly Toyota to launch Proace Electric


Toyota Professional is expanding its light com- mercial offering with the launch of the Proace Electric. This will be followed later in the year by a Proace City Electric. Both of the vans are based on existing Stallantis models, already sold by Peugeot, Citroën and Vauxhall. Toyota will offer the Proace Electric with a


choice of 50kWh and 75kWh batteries, deliver- ing potential driving ranges of 150 and 205 miles respectively. Proace Electric will be available in panel van, crew van, chassis cab and Verso peo- ple-carrying models in compact, medium and long body lengths. That said, the short van will only be


available with the smaller 50kWh battery. All models come with a 7.4kW on-board charg- ing capability, with an 11kW charger available as an option. Standard payloads of 1,000kg can be increased on some models to 1,275kg and the EV vans are capable of towing a trailer. Toyota will provide an eight-year/100,000-mile warran- ty on the batteries. There will be Base, Comfort and Comfort Plus trim levels, while the firm’s Toyota Safety Sense package of ADAS systems will also be available. We’ll have a full review of the Proace Electric in the June issue of VanUser.


Ford offers improved security


Ford is to offer a range of fac- tory-fit


securi-


ty upgrades for Transit, Transit Custom and Tran- sit Courier. A range of deadlocks, slam handles, hook locks and other security meas- ures from TVL Security have been available as after-market acces- sories from Ford dealers for some time. Now the two companies are working together to offer the full range of increased security meas- ures as factory-fit items from Ford’s Kocaeli plant in Turkey.


Lead times


This will reduce lead times, as there will be no requirement for ad- ditional work to the van on arriv- al in the UK. It will also allow Ford to include the price of the options within the purchase price of the ve- hicle, or as part of any finance or leasing plan.


4 VANUSER • MAY 2021


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