Peter McDonald
The SMMT’s latest sales figures will make fleets think hard about how and when to shift to electric
It’s not an enviable time for most fleet managers looking to the future, something that was underlined by the latest new car sales figures from the SMMT.
On the face of it, it ought to be simple. Inevitably as we move towards the 2030 and 2035 deadlines for traditional petrol and diesel vehicles and then plug-in hybrids, understandably many fleet managers are looking to future-proof their decisions and corporate positions on their fleets.
But things aren’t really that simple. Much of the industry expected plug-in hybrids to provide a stepping stone for drivers moving towards fully electric models.
Except that the ranges of latest EVs are increasing and, with the ever-improving charging network, more and more buyers are having the confidence to move straight from ICE vehicles to full EVs.
The SMMT new car sales figures for the year-to-date to July showed that while sales of fully electric cars were up 49.9%, plug-in hybrids were, intriguingly, actually down 15.1%. Perhaps even more curious was the fact that sales of non plug-in hybrids were also up by a not-inconsiderable 20% – possibly as a result of higher SMR costs for fleet managers and climbing pump prices.
A move to a fully electric or even plug-in hybrid fleet only works if those same drivers have easy access to a charger at home or at work.
Shift strategies
So with those slightly conflicting figures, how do fleet managers commit to their future ‘fuel’ of choice? The most obvious figures to draw on are those 2030 and 2035 dates which seem far away. But a number of brands are already making commitments to a fully electric line-up before those timelines, plus there’s emergence of EV-only brands such as Smart, Nio and, obviously, Tesla.
But a move to a fully electric or even plug-in hybrid fleet only works if those same drivers have easy access to a charger at home or at work. With the latter vehicles especially, as the early days of plug-in hybrids showed (step forward Mitsubishi Outlander), fleet managers need to make it as easy as possible for those drivers to charge their cars.
That means a commitment on a corporate level to fitting chargers both at home and work to give their employees easy and simple access to charging facilities.
For drivers too, fitting chargers at home obviously means easy access for them in other areas of their lives such as when they buy an EV as a personal car.
In addition, those benefits go to fleet managers and companies as well as those drivers enjoying substantially lower running costs. One Ohme customer, EDSB, estimates its fuel savings alone in starting to switch its car fleet from diesel to EVs are currently running at £3,500 a month.
So, as we said at the start, while being a fleet manager at the moment might not be an enviable position, making those kind of savings for your company certainly is.
Peter McDonald is mobility director at Ohme. Prior to his current role, he spent two decades working for automotive manufacturers including Nissan, SEAT and the wider Volkswagen Group.
