More than one in five vans (21%) don’t meet the requirements of London’s Ultra Low Emissions Zone (ULEZ), new FleetCheck user base data reveals.

A substantial minority of fleets are still operating pre-Euro 6 vans that will be hit by the ULEZ expansion

The figures show that a substantial minority of fleets are still operating pre-Euro 6 vans – and indicate that large numbers of businesses could be affected by the extension of the ULEZ at the end of August.

FleetCheck managing director Peter Golding also said it’s likely that there are many more vans of this type being run by sole traders and microbusinesses that fall outside of the mainstream fleet industry and wouldn’t be included in the data. This means the proportion of non-compliant vans that will be affected by the ULEZ extension could be quite a lot higher than one in five.

While the figures are taken across the company’s national user base, FleetCheck managing director Peter Golding said there was no real reason to believe they were not reflective of van usage within the ULEZ zone, as elsewhere.

He also warned that the widespread extensions in replacement cycles due to new van supply shortages had taken their toll.

“We now have many fleets that are operating at least a few vans that are 7-8 years old and will therefore probably be non-compliant.”

Golding said that the most obvious strategy for tackling the extended ULEZ was for companies that operate in the zone to swap compliant and non-compliant vehicles to ensure that the right vans are in the right locations.

“We know of several fleets that have done this but it is an option that is only open to those with wide geographical coverage and relatively large fleets. For all others, the only solutions are to pay the ULEZ charge or buy a compliant vehicle and neither of those options are cheap.

“We are highly sympathetic with the aims of the ULEZ – everyone deserves to live in a place where the air is safe to breathe – but its introduction is potentially hitting businesses just when they are under quite a lot of economic pressure, and when both new and compliant used vans are in short supply. It’s unfortunate timing.”