Two-thirds of UK fleet managers increased the number of EVs on their fleet during the last year, according to new research from Lex Autolease.
The leasing company has published the first in what it says will be a series of Future of Transport reports, for which it surveyed fleet managers, as well as private motorists.
Among the 66% of fleet managers who said the number of EVs on their fleet had increased, this was by an average of 19%, with an average of 44% of overall fleet vehicles now electric.
In addition, 45% of managers surveyed said they had ramped up electrification due to business cost pressures, although 53% said this had not been a motivation.
When asked for the main factors behind adopting EVs, lower maintenance and upkeep costs came in joint first place on 30% with reduced noise from vehicles.
Other popular motivations were engagement from employees, cited by 28% of respondents, and lower running costs (26%), while EVs being seen as trendy (24%) came ahead of environmental impact (22%).
However, 67% did say electrifying their fleet was important for their sustainability targets, and 75% said it was important to support employee engagement and recruitment.
Looking ahead, 100% of respondents said their fleet would ultimately be entirely electric, though on average they thought this would take until 2030, and 31% thought it would take a decade or more.
Lex also surveyed fleet managers about what they thought the barriers were to electrification, and found that 33% cited the availability of charging points – although 78% still thought there was adequate infrastructure to help the wider electric transition.
Employee concerns were also named as a prohibitive factor by 33% of respondents, while 29% named battery charging times, 28% said a limited supply of EVs, 27% said the logistics of installing home chargers, 25% said the availability of second-hand EVs, 24% said the upfront cost of EVs, and 21% said a limited choice of models.
On the subject of effective policy actions the government could take to further encourage EV adoption, 38% of respondents said funding or subsidies should be made available to businesses, including for on-site charging, while 34% wanted more investment in public charging infrastructure.
A fuel tax on company petrol and diesel vehicles was named as potentially effective by 32% of respondents, while 31% said increased EV grants for businesses and more related tax breaks, and 23% said further education about the business benefits of the vehicles.
With the fleet feedback combined with survey responses from private motorists, Lex has produced a confidence rating for EVs of +31, where +100 would be the highest possible score and -50 the lowest.
This puts EVs behind petrol cars (+42) and hybrids (+32), but ahead of diesels (+13).
Lex Autolease transport managing director Nick Williams said: “Attitudes towards battery technology vehicles are changing at pace, with many more drivers intending on making the transition.
“While for now, petrol vehicles remain the dominant force on the UK’s roads, there is a seismic shift on the horizon – especially when you combine the progress already being made to adopt new electric and hybrid vehicles, and drivers’ future purchasing intentions.
“In order to maintain this momentum, we need to see sustained investment and legislation from government to facilitate better access to new charging points and to ensure a steady supply of electric and hybrid vehicle models for UK drivers.”
