EV uptake: five “easy wins” for government

^{Image: Lorna McAtear, head of fleet at National Grid and AFP board member.} 

The Association of Fleet Professionals has identified five “fast and simple” ideas that the new government could implement to help the fleet sector transition to electric vehicles. Board member Lorna McAtear explains.

Five “easy wins” have been identified by the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP) that it aims to promote to the new Labour government in order to speed up the electrification of fleets.

Board member Lorna McAtear said that the ideas would be relatively fast and simple to put into practice, cost little or nothing, and provide a wide range of benefits for the fleet sector.

She explained: “Everyone has a list of expensive measures for the incoming government and we would certainly like to see some of those enacted, such as a reduction or removal of VAT on public charging, but we thought it would be a useful exercise to put ourselves in the position of the government which, we all know, faces very real restrictions on spending at the moment. These are our thoughts.”

Be realistic

The first easy win is realism on electric vehicle (EV) policy. Lorna said: “Fleets and the manufacturers that supply them need to take a real world look at the rate of EV adoption in light of the experience of fleets over the last few years.

“Labour have said they will restore the 2030 target on EV manufacturing. It is now clear that this is possible for cars but just not practicable for vans. There are too many hurdles and the products available do not meet the needs of enough businesses. There is an argument for leaving the current 2035 target in place for all vehicles, with the ZEV mandates continuing, but if there is a return to 2030, it should be for cars only.”

EV labelling

Number two on the AFP list is EV labelling and education. Feedback from members shows that too many drivers and sometimes fleet managers don’t understand the charging capabilities of their vehicles, and it is not always easy to get hold of accurate information.

Lorna said: “A simple solution would be to have a label on the inside of the charge port flap that informs the driver of the maximum capability that vehicle has for AC and DC charging – for example, up to 11kwh AC and 115kwh DC. This will go a long way to helping drivers pick the right chargers for the capabilities of their vehicles.

Manufacturers may push back on this idea as they can subsequently upgrade charging capabilities over the air but we believe there is a strong argument for providing information that is accurate at the time of sale.”

Battery health

The third idea is for a standardised battery state of health check to be introduced.

This was a measure included in the Labour manifesto. Lorna said: “There is a general acceptance that the second hand EV market needs help and an easy way of creating a higher degree of consumer confidence would be a government-backed battery state of health check that provides a statement of the kind of performance that used car and van buyers can expect from their vehicle. In our opinion, this is something that can’t happen too soon.”

Vehicle to Grid battery storage

Fourth on the AFP list is a push on vehicle-to-grid (V2G) battery storage, which has huge potential for the future in terms of grid decarbonisation and could also provide a boost to new and used EV sales as consumers become aware of the possibilities and benefits.

Lorna said: “EVs are big batteries on wheels and have a huge potential future part to play in making wider use of renewables more practical. However, while V2G is currently possible, it is something that has yet to enter the mainstream, even though there are now a million EVs on UK roads. We’d like to see clear government policy that is designed to promote V2G, spreading awareness of the concept among both new and used EV buyers, and the general public in a wider sense.

Especially, we’d like to see clarification of where and when this type of battery storage can be used and for which applications.”

Planning laws

The final easy win is a relaxation of the planning laws to make installation of charge points faster and easier, both for businesses wanting their own chargers and by charge point operators for use by the public.

Lorna said: “Planning rules at all levels are slowing down the rate that charge points can be installed right across the board. While we understand that this would need the backing of the grid, we would like to see much of the bureaucracy removed and planning regulations revised to speed up deployment.

Planning is an area where Keir Starmer has promised to take off the brakes for the UK, and charge points should be part of this policy.”

A further ask In addition to these ideas, the AFP has already said that it would like to see the new government introduce benefit-in-kind company car tax tables through to 2029-30. It is now nearly two years since the current tables were announced and they only run until the 2027/28 tax year, meaning fleets buying vehicles today don’t know the tax rate their drivers will be charged towards the end of the decade.

Lorna said: “This is, in itself, a further easy win. It would cost little or nothing but would mean that fleets buying company cars on longer leases during the next year or so would have certainty about the tax their drivers are paying through to the end of the decade.”