Electric Cars and Vans

Customers will drive the electric vehicle revolution by favouring suppliers that can provide emission-free deliveries, new research claims.

The findings come as home shopping and online ordering reaches record levels as consumers and employees work from home and source more goods online.

People make an average of eight online orders each month for home delivery of goods ranging from food to clothing and household goods.

Half of the respondents to the research said they are conscious of the environmental impact of home deliveries and three-quarters say they would favour companies that transport goods in an environmentally-friendly manner.

A similar proportion would like all their home deliveries to be emission-free within five years, mainly through electric vehicles, but also using cargo bikes and other zero-emission delivery solutions.

Furthermore, just over half say they would pay more to make change happen.

Already, major fleets are investing hundreds of millions of pounds in electric vans, with every major parcel delivery company committing to zero-emission solutions.

In 2019, online retailer Amazon announced an order for 100,000 custom-built electric vans from Rivian Automotive for its global fleet and 1,800 electric vans from Mercedes-Benz for European roads.

The investment by major companies is proving that electric vans are suitable for real-world use, with 10% of DPD's UK van fleet now electric and delivering one million parcels each month.

However, the scale of the change needed in UK transport is shown in official registration figures. While around 14% of new car registrations are plug-in vehicles, they only account for a small fraction of van registrations, amid restricted supply and a preference among buyers for cheap and reliable diesel models.

Reflex Vehicle Hire, through our Reflex Renewable Drive Programme, is working to support customers who are considering an electric vehicle strategy.

It puts fleet managers behind the wheel of electric vehicles to give them hands-on experience of zero-emission driving, so they can have informed discussions with managers and their drivers.

Lisa Spong, Reflex Vehicle Hire Sales Director, said:

“Flexible vehicle hire will play a key role in helping fleet operators to transition to zero-emission transport.

Through our Reflex Renewable Drive programme and ongoing expert support and advice, we will work in partnership with fleets as we travel together on the Road to Zero.”

For details on the wealth of vehicles available on flexible terms from Reflex Vehicle Hire, review our Vehicle Selection page or contact one of our expert team members.

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