Vehicle remarketing companies must start taking future electric vehicle charging needs into account as larger numbers of EVs start making their way onto the used market.

The VRA is urging remarketing companies to start addressing EV charging needs

According to the Vehicle Remarketing Association, which represents businesses that handle, sell, inspect, transport or manage more than 1.5 million used cars and vans every year, the demands for power on some remarketing sites will be considerable; a number of its members process tens of thousands of vehicles every month.

VRA chair Sam Watkins explained: “Currently, it is just a question of ensuring that there is sufficient fuel in the tank of each but looking ahead, a large proportion will be EVs, especially following the Government’s 2035 commitment.

“Those remarketing companies will need to make sure that EVs are charged to a useable degree simply to move them around, and comply to best practice for storage scenarios. Once an EV has a flat battery, the movement of it becomes a challenge as they must be handled in line with correct safety protocols which differ from internal combustion engines.

“Really, the only way at present to ensure that they will all have sufficient power is to install a lot of chargers – perhaps hundreds on some large sites that are used for storage by manufacturers and leasing companies.”

The charging issue was raised at the VRA’s January meeting, with Watkins highlighting that  individual dealerships could also be affected, many of whom were already operating from cramped sites. She added that even a medium-sized dealership might need a dozen chargers on-site until new charging solutions are evolved.

“We are looking at a situation where the remarketing of EVs might require careful consideration by many different kinds of business in our sector purely to ensure that sufficient charging is available.”

Commenting on the issue, Theo Kortland, managing director at Smart Fleet Solutions, said: “The onus is on remarketing and de-fleet organisations to keep up with the technological advances of the fleets of their customers – like we do – in order to be able to deliver smart solutions.”