There are two stories in the news today that concern delivery vehicles and their emissions. One is from Transport & Environment, which says emissions from the delivery fleet in the UK are increasing as companies double down on diesel-powered vans. The other is from UPS, which says it is adding 100 battery electric vans to its delivery fleet in Paris. Why the contradiction? That’s a question that needs answering, and the sooner the better.
The good news is that electric van sales increased seven-fold over the past five years. That growth is significant and is expected to continue and go even faster as new policies that require van makers to sell more zero-emission vans start to take effect. In fact, the ZEV mandate should push the UK ahead of other European countries that have overtaken us in electric van uptake over the last few years.
Scrappage schemes for old diesel vans as well as extending grants for plug-in vans for small businesses would help with that initial cost barrier. his company had been “frustrated” by the range of vehicles on the market and the ZEV mandate was a really important step. “Our engineers really like them — the noise, the ability to warm them up very quickly during winter weather,” he said. Openreach aims to convert all of its 30,000 vans by 2031, and so far it has 4,100 battery electric vans, helped by government grants of up to £5,000 a van for a maximum of 1,500 vans a year per company.