Electric vans 25% cheaper to own than diesel

The average electric van in the European Union is 25% cheaper over its lifetime than its diesel counterpart despite much higher upfront costs for zero-emission models, European campaign group Transport and Environment (T&E) said on Wednesday. .

According to a Dataforce survey of 745 van-owning companies in the EU, 84% of respondents would consider going electric – 36% already own a commercial electric van, 32% plan to buy one in 2022 and 16% will consider buying one within the next five years.

T&E said falling running costs and growing interest in electricity strengthen the case for deeper CO2 emissions reductions on diesel vans than currently proposed by the European Commission.

In a study of six countries, France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and the UK, which account for 76% of the EU and UK van market, T&E discovered that an electric van costs 0.15 euro (0.17 USD) per kilometer (0.6 USD). mile) to travel, compared to 0.2 euros for a diesel van.

Excluding government subsidies, T&E found they were consistently cheaper in five countries, while in Germany the cost of running was the same.

The purchase price of an electric van is 40 to 55 percent higher than a diesel model, according to T&E.

This additional upfront cost has often been a barrier for companies switching to zero-emission models, although the “total cost of ownership” of an electric van, including fuel costs, has been falling for years.

Only 3% of vans sold in the EU in 2021 were fully electric, compared to 9% for passenger cars, which are subject to stricter CO2 emission standards.

The European Commission has proposed that all new vans should be zero emissions by 2035. But T&E said its research shows that the European Parliament and EU member states must “set targets for CO2 emissions more to accelerate the adoption of electric vans in the 2020s and early 2030s”. .

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