SHARED EV CHARGING PROGRESS MADE ON


increasingly practical, according to the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP).


B The organisation’s chair, Paul


Hollick, said its shared charging committee had made strong progress, with it appearing that many of the tasks surrounding the practicalities of shared charging could be resolved quickly. Hollick said: “Where we are now is that we have a set of electric van operators who think shared charging is a very good idea and would like to make it happen. It is the objective of the new committee to look at what needs to be done to make it a practical proposition.


“There are a whole series of hurdles that we face – including setting prices, payment mechanisms, reimbursement, site access, health and safety on premises and more – but from our discussions so far, none of them appear to be impossible to solve.” Fleets represented at the latest


meeting included The AA, Alliance Healthcare, Auditel, IFC Group, National


usinesses opening up their EV chargers for other organisations to use is looking


that enables an electric van driver to complete their journey during a working day.


“It appears that digital infrastructure is available that would answer many of the questions that we have around pricing, payment, blocking out availability to ensure that ‘home’ fleets get priority access to charging when they need it, and even site access where there are security measures in place such as RFID gate access.” Hollick said that the main


Grid, Novuna and Royal Mail. Also in attendance was Evata, a company that specialises in digital infrastructure for shared charging. Hollick said: “The fleets involved have a range of different ideas and propositions. Some want to arrange reciprocal charging with others on a national basis, some have chargers and would like to offer access to others, and some even have land available where they would potentially be able to install further chargers for widespread fleet use.


“There seems to be general agreement that shared charging is not really about overnight use but providing an option for top-up charging


remaining discussion point was around health and safety, with employees entering sites where there were potential risks of different kinds. He said: “This has implications for both the business providing charging and the visiting driver, and is one of the questions that we’ll be looking at during our next meeting in May. “However, there appears to be a real will to make this work. Creating greater access to charging is the number one measure that would help electric van operators to solve many of the operational issues that they face, and shared charging could massively increase the number of chargers available at a stroke.”


MICRO MOBILITY SERVICE A


new programme offering electric utility vehicles and e-cargo bikes to fleets has been introduced by Northgate Vehicle Hire.


The company says it is responding to a growing need for emissions-free, flexible electric options to sit alongside more traditional commercial vehicle types.


It says the vehicles are suited to a wide range of use cases, and are ideal for use in locations where a regular LCV might be too large.


Redde Northgate group partnerships director Brett Hilliard said: “Many of


@whatvan


our customers have started to operate vehicles of this type to support lower carbon operations, but with minimal opportunities to rent until now. By


launching a range of micromobility solutions under our standard rental agreements, we can offer our customers access not only to the


NORTHGATE LAUNCHES


GROWTH IN MARKET FOR LEASED LCVS


LCVs, according to the BVRLA. Data from the rental and leasing industry body’s latest Leasing Outlook report, taken from members’ fleets, shows a 3.9% year-on-year increase in the number of LCVs on-fleet, compared with a 1.9% increase for cars, making overall fleet growth of 2.4%.


A The report does however raise


concerns about the adoption of electric LCVs, with leasing chiefs said to consider the prospect of manufacturers achieving the 10% sales mix of these vehicles this year required by the UK government’s ZEV mandate to be “extremely


ambitious”. In fact, the average CO2 emissions from new leased vans went up with the latest figures, which the BVRLA said was most likely due to a change in vehicle mix weighted towards larger diesel vans. The report also reveals a big increase in take-up of fleet management with leased LCVs, up by 30.1% year-on-year.


vehicles, but also our fully inclusive service and maintenance support. “Our rental solution also removes both the capex burden and the worry of residual value risk in what is a new segment for many customers. “These smaller vehicles will complement our range of LCVs and eLCVs, offering specialised and efficient tools to operators under the same flexible contracts as any other Northgate vehicle. As our customers’ needs evolve, so too will our rental proposition, ensuring that we continue to support customers in imaginative ways regarding their mobility needs.”


May 2024 WhatVan? 7


n increased proportion of the UK leased vehicle fleet is now made up of


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