Last year was a big one for EV registrations and, despite some hefty challenges and obstacles, there’s plenty of optimism about more success in 2023, says Ohme mobility director Peter McDonald.

Ohme’s Peter McDonald

We’ve recently had the SMMT sales figures for December and full-year 2022 with sales of fully electric BEV vehicles taking their best-ever monthly market share at 32.9%.

That means during December that sales of fully electric BEV vehicles accounted for one in three of all new cars sold, an astonishing figure. For 2022, they stood at 16.6% of the market – more than three times what diesel vehicles accounted for. Not so long ago, even suggesting a statistic like that would have been unthinkable.

By comparison, sales of plug-in hybrids dropped slightly, taking a slightly reduced 6.3% market share in 2022. It would be easy to deduce from this percentage that drivers are favouring BEVs over PHEVs. But anecdotally, we’ve heard of some manufacturers favouring their BEV models rather than PHEVs in light of the industry-wide chip shortage – so this may not accurately reflect the true picture of customer demand.

It’s a similar story with the new light commercial vehicle market too. Sales of BEV vans grew by 31.2% compared with 2021. Yes, that’s from a low base but, with diesel van sales dropping by 23.1%, there’s definite momentum building for the electric van market

Horses for courses

That momentum on the EV van market is looking rather cool with the likes of Volkswagen’s ID. Buzz Cargo, too. The van version of the German manufacturer’s classic camper for the new generation, the Cargo has already been bought and customised by the cleaning company Miele for its customer service fleet. In Miele’s corporate red paintwork – and with a bespoke conversion in the cargo space to include a workstation and integrated folding table – it looks the business.

Volkswagen isn’t alone in innovating in the workhorse market either. Citroën is another company looking closely at the last-mile delivery market, with its cute Ami. As outlined in the December issue of Fleet World, with the Ami Cargo having the passenger seat removed, it offers a built-in 260-litre storage box and everyone from food delivery companies to holiday parks and parcel firms have expressed an interest in the tiny electric car.

Both of these vehicles tackle and service very different areas of the van market, albeit both under the electrification umbrella – perfect examples of how plug-power can drive innovation.

Underlining all of the new forms of EV transport is the question of charging, of course. There is no doubt that charging provision needs to be easier for fleet drivers and managers, going forward. Whether that’s the driver buying their chargers individually and directly from a charging manufacturer such as Ohme, or the fleet buying them via its leasing company, there certainly needs to be more joined-up thinking.

Despite rising electricity costs, running an EV is still considerably more cost-effective than an equivalent ICE model, especially if you have previously been running a diesel-only fleet. Plus, if drivers take advantage of off-peak EV tariffs, they can also reduce their running costs still further, both during business and personal mileage.

Peter McDonald has been mobility director at Ohme since September 2021. Prior to this, he spent two decades working for automotive manufacturers including Nissan, SEAT and the wider Volkswagen Group.