The new Labour Government could provide significant help to the fleet sector with ‘five easy wins’, according to the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP).

According to AFP board member Lorna McAtear, the ideas would be relatively fast and simple to put into practice, cost the Government little or nothing to implement and produce wide-ranging benefits.

The AFP would first like to see realism on electric vehicle (EV) policy based on the experience of adoption by fleets in recent years. “Labour have said they will restore the 2030 target on EV manufacturing – it is now clear that this is possible for cars but just not practicable for vans,” McAtear said.

“There are too many hurdles and the products available do not meet the needs of enough businesses – there is an argument for leaving the current 2035 target in place for all vehicles, with the ZEV mandates continuing, but if there is a return to 2030, it should be for cars only,” she added.

Number two on the AFP list is EV labelling and education – too many drivers and in some cases fleet managers don’t understand the charging capabilities of their vehicles, and it is not always easy to obtain accurate information.

“A simple solution would be to have a label on the inside of the charge port flap that informs the driver of the maximum capability that vehicle has for AC and DC charging,” McAtear said, arguing that while manufacturers may push back on this idea because they can subsequently upgrade charging capability over the air, there is a strong argument for providing accurate information at the time of sale.

The AFP also believes there is a need for a standardised battery state of health check to be introduced, which would help the used EV market and was included in the Labour manifesto. Such a measure, McAtear believes, would be an easy way of creating a higher degree of consumer confidence. “In our opinion, this is something that can’t happen too soon.”

On the grid

A focus on vehicle-to-grid (V2G) battery storage has huge potential for the future in terms of grid decarbonisation, according to the AFP and could also provide a boost to new and used EV sales as consumers become aware of the possibilities and benefits.

“While V2G is currently possible, it is something that has yet to enter the mainstream, even though there are now a million EVs on UK roads,” McAtear said.

“We’d like to see clear government policy that is designed to promote V2G, spreading awareness of the concept among both new and used EV buyers, and the general public in a wider sense. Especially, we’d like to see clarification of where and when this type of battery storage can be used and for which applications.”

The AFP’s final ‘easy win’ is to relax planning laws to make installation of charge points faster and easier, both for businesses wanting their own chargers and by charge point operators for use by the public.

“Planning rules at all levels are slowing down the rate that charge points can be installed right across the board,” McAtear said, adding; “While we understand that this would need the backing of the grid, we would like to see much of the bureaucracy removed and planning regulations revised to speed up deployment.

“Planning is an area where Keir Starmer has promised to take off the brakes for the UK, and charge points should be part of this policy.”

On the table

The AFP also wants to see the introduction of new benefit-in-kind company car tax tables through to 2029-30. The current tables only run until the 2027/28 tax year, meaning fleets buying vehicles today don’t know the tax rate their drivers will be charged towards the end of the decade.

“This is, in itself, a further easy win. It would cost little or nothing but would mean that fleets buying company cars on longer leases during the next year or so would have certainty about the tax their drivers are paying through to the end of the decade.”

McAtear added that everyone has a list of expensive measures for the incoming government and the AFP would certainly like to see some of them enacted, such as a reduction or removal of VAT on public charging. “But we thought it would be a useful exercise to put ourselves in the position of the government which, we all know, faces very real restrictions on spending at the moment.”