In general, companies are cautiously positive about the recovery of the economy after the corona pandemic. According to them, the most important changes they will experience in the next five years is the transition from diesel to electric. This is evident from the new Monitor Light Commercial Vehicles 2021 of RAI Association Passenger Cars and Light Commercial Vehicles (PBL) section in collaboration with consultancy firm VMS Insight. Most companies are open to electric commercial vehicles, the trend report shows. The brand is subordinate to functional aspects such as range (400 km), charging capacity, charging infrastructure and financial aspects such as the purchase price and TCO. When purchasing EVs, therefore, a full operational lease is more often than is currently the case.
Sustainable vehicle fleet
Especially companies with a large fleet are consciously working on making transport more sustainable. The larger the fleet, the better they are familiar with Zero Emission City Logistics and the greater its expected impact on the composition of the fleet. After all, companies with large fleets are more often in cities and are more aware of the consequences of Zero Emission City Logistics and the sustainability of transport (transition to electric company cars).
Brand reliability comes first
The respondents also mentioned reliability as the most important aspect when choosing a particular brand of commercial vehicle, followed by road safety and service from the local dealer. Commercial vehicles must be quickly put back on the road when they are stationary. The dealer therefore remains a crucial link, both in the sales process and for maintenance.
EV registrations vans
Current figures from RDC now show that the share of electric commercial vehicles in the total number of registrations is growing. Stimulated by the purchase subsidy for electric commercial vehicles that started in March, the market share grew to almost 5 percent (3 units) in the first 994 months of this year. In 2019 and 2020, this share was still over 1,5 percent in the same period.
“The market for electric delivery vans is slowly getting going. But experience shows that with a rapidly growing supply and falling prices, the market share also grows. This also happened with passenger cars, where in 2017 the share of electric was less than 2 percent and had already grown to 20 percent last year.”
Impact Corona
The effects of Corona on the turnover of entrepreneurs and prospects were also examined. Companies are cautiously positive about the economic recovery. In the first quarter of 2021, there were still more companies with decreased sales than companies that saw an increase in sales. Especially companies active in passenger transport have been negatively affected by corona, to a lesser extent also companies engaged in freight transport, self-employed persons and medium-sized companies. Companies involved in mail and parcel delivery often saw their turnover increase. In 6 months, however, most companies seem to expect no more effect or positive effects on turnover (turnover compared to 2019). Only freight transport and passenger transport do not think they have fully recovered by then, according to RAI Association.
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