BVRLA updates its Plug-in Pledge commitment to electric vehicles

Two years after the BVRLA launched its 'Plug-in Pledge' - promising to increase uptake of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles - the association now reveals its updated figures.

In July 2018, the BVRLA launched its first ‘Plug-in Pledge’. It said that the vehicle rental, leasing and fleet industry’s combined battery electric and plug-in hybrid vehicle fleet size would jump from 50,000 to 720,000 by 2025. By that time, the vehicle rental, leasing and fleet sectors would be buying 300,000 plug-in vehicles per year.

Two years on, and the pace of road transport decarbonisation has accelerated. The BVRLA therefore revisited the Plug-in Pledge, working with Frost and Sullivan, to create a new forecast. The 2020 Plug-in Pledge now says:

By 2025, the vehicle rental, leasing and fleet industry will be registering 400,000 battery electric cars and vans each year. This means it will be responsible for 80% of sales in the UK.

In terms of total fleet, the industry will own and operate 75% of battery electric vehicles on UK roads – around 900,000 vehicles.

If you include plug in hybrid vehicles, the figures are even more impressive. By 2025, the rental, leasing and fleet industry will be registering nearly 570,000 plug-in cars and vans every year and will own and operate around 1.3m plug-in vehicles in total.