News Analysis
TRY BEFORE YOU BUY
Leasing giant Arval reckons short-term flexible contracts are the way to get electric vans up and running on fleets, but you might not need to worry about EVs just yet. Jack Carfrae reports.
Payload can adversely affect the battery range of large electric vans
are older than average. Either that, or you have recently got shot of some LCVs that had run beyond their original term.
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Those who have just replenished a large portion of their fleet can look away now, but for anyone in need of new LCVs with an eye on electric, another long-term lease may not be the way to go. One of the UK’s biggest contract hire
WhatVan? August 2023
e would bet that any van fleet operator reading this probably has vehicles that
companies claims that noncommittal, sub-two-year contracts are among the best ways to establish electric vans because their try-before-you-buy nature and the ability to showcase the vehicles to different employees and departments are effective techniques for a soft launch. “Vans on a five-year contract is kind of standard,” explains Arval’s consultant, Ben Edwards. “We’ve got some clients with some very ambitious [EV] targets – we are talking about 2027/28 for a lot of them – but if we can get
them into a lease for, say, three months or six months to give it a try and make sure it’s fit for purpose, then you can pass the van round different depots, different entities, different drivers. It gives everybody that kind of softer exposure so that you are not just forced into it, which really works.” Such contracts can be extended at will and many are. Edwards says they frequently segue into full-blown leases after the initial trial period. “If you took it out for, say, a three- month lease, then decided to keep it for
nine months, that’s fine. We just amend the contracts and it runs like a contract hire. And then, we’ll quite happily put an order in and you keep hold of that van until we get your [electric] one. We’ll get it wrapped, racked and everything else, and there’s your new EV, all kitted out and ready to go.” In December 2022, the company announced that its mid-term rental product, Arval Flex, which offers vehicles on flexible contracts up to 24 months, had grown by more than 50% in a year to 3,800 vehicles (including
www.whatvan.co.uk
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