Tuesday 10 March 2020
EV investment from UK businesses ‘set to rise by 50% in next two years’
Investment in electric vehicles (EVs) by UK businesses is set to increase by almost 50% over the next two years.
That's according to new research released by Centrica Business Solutions, which found many UK firms are planning to significantly ramp-up spending on the electrification of their fleet.
It notes in the two years since the government announced a ban on the manufacture of petrol and diesel vehicles, businesses have spent an estimated £8.2 billion on EV adoption - over the next two years, this level of investment is set to increase to around £12 billion as firms plan to spend an average of 4.5% of their annual turnover on EV adoption.
More than a quarter of respondents expect at least a fifth of the vehicles within their fleet to be electric by 2022.
Of those businesses that had already begun electrifying their fleets, 37% said this was driven by pressure from government emissions targets, while 37% noted they need to operate freely in ultra-low emissions zones and a third said they were driven by the lower maintenance costs of EVs.
Despite this, vehicle costs were still a major concern for 44% of all businesses polled - around 42% said they would be put off as a result of range anxiety and 37% said the increased energy costs caused by charging vehicles on company premises could stop uptake.
Alan Barlow, Director UK & Ireland at Centrica Business Solutions, said: "There is clear recognition among UK businesses of the increasingly important operational role EVs can play for them in meeting their decarbonisation goals. But concern is still widespread over how to finance this significant change, particularly for those with large petrol and diesel fleets.
"Vehicle charging is inevitably going to increase the amount of electricity businesses consume. It’s our view that onsite generation from solar panels, allied with battery storage and smart charging are the right option for many businesses to enable them to provide charging facilities without facing large increases to power costs and upgrades to their incoming supply."
