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A common perception is that electric vans are more expensive than diesel vans, which can certainly be true if just the purchase price is considered. However according to figures from leading EV leasing company DriveElectric, an electric van can be cheaper than a diesel van in terms of whole life costs if it is leased.
Taking costs for leasing, fuel and maintenance into account, a Peugeot E-Expert electric van costs £653.75 per month, compared to £747.51 per month for the diesel version. These costs are comprised of the following elements:
Lease £385.96
Maintenance £60.96
Fuel £266.66
Total: £747.51 per month
Lease £539.34
Maintenance £47.75
Fuel £66.66
Total: £653.75 per month
The figures are based on a Business Contract Hire lease deal of 1 + 47 months and 20,000 miles per annum.
All fuel costs are currently volatile, but the difference between £66.66 per month for electricity and £266.66 per month for diesel (as at July 2022) is significant.
Aside from the lower whole life costs, electric vans offer the key benefit of zero tailpipe emissions, both in terms of local air quality and climate change. For many companies, this is a priority issue, in order to ensure they are meeting their corporate social responsibility commitments.
Emissions impacting on local air quality are an important issue in built-up areas in particular, and the savings for electric vans could be even more significant if the vehicles are operated in places such as London. Electric vans compared to non-compliant vehicles could also save thousands of pounds per year due to being exempt from London’s Ultra Low Emission ULEZ charge (£12.50 per day) and the Congestion Charge zone for non-compliant vehicles (£15 per day). Both charges over 364 days of the year would total £10,010.
Electric vans will also be exempt from charges in the increasing number of Clean Air Zones that are due to be introduced across the UK.
There are also savings on Vehicle Excise Duty (VED), or road tax. New internal combustion powered vans are liable for VED at a flat rate of £275 a year, but electric vans are zero-rated for VED.
There’s even more good news with company van tax (van benefit charge). If a van is provided for private as well as business use, there’s a ‘van benefit charge’ which has been set at a flat rate of £3,500 during the 2022/23 financial year for combustion-engined vans, however the rate for fully electric vans is zero.
And then there’s the driving experience – DriveElectric has many case studies where company drivers are sceptical about the prospect of switching from diesel to electric vans, but in many cases after just one day in the electric driving seat, the drivers never want to go back to driving a diesel again, thanks to the quiet, refined and easy driving experience of electric vans.
So organisations with a van fleet should give serious consideration to switching to electric vans now to take advantage of the cost savings and to reduce their impact on the environment.
