Following the publication of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) commercial vehicle statistics for May, the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA) has made a statement expressing that battery electric light commercial vehicles (NEV LCVs) are not selling at expected volumes.
BEV light commercial vehicle sales only made up 5.2% of the market, according to recent SMMT data. A recent NFDA company statement su
The NFDA has written a letter to the Department for Transport outlining how their “lack of inertia” has delayed the adoption of electric vans and that it is ‘slowing’ the growth of this market share.
Sue Robinson, chief executive of the National Franchised Dealers Association (NFDA), said: “There is an evident issue regarding the uptake of battery electric light commercial vehicles, which is an ever-pressing issue with the 2030 net-zero target approaching.
“The NFDA would like to see more support from the government’s Department for Transport, including incentives for battery electric LCV consumers. We would further like DfT to address legislative issues that negatively affect their business usage.”
The NFDA has urged the government to provide a response to its own consultation that was released by its commercial vehicle subdivision 10 months ago, regarding the weight classification of electric vans in the UK.
One of the key recommendations of this consultation was to remove additional training requirements for alternatively-fuelled vehicles (AFVs), which the NFDA saw as delaying uptake due to additional bureaucracy and cost factors for light commercial operators.
The organisation is especially occupied with the fact that electric vans fall into the heavier +3.5-tonne gross vehicle weight (GVW) class, and instead thinks they belong in the O Licence weight class.
The commercial vehicle body hopes to encourage the government to establish fair and safe regulation that ‘accurately categorises different vehicle types’, while not penalising new heavier and greener AFVs with ‘burdensome regulation’.
Of the more than 4,500 franchised car and commercial vehicle retailers across the country, the NFDA reportedly retains 85% within membership.
