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Fleets adopting electric vans are using them over longer daily routes, according to new research from Arval Mobility Observatory.
Respondents to the 2025 Arval Mobility Observatory Barometer, who already have electric vans or were planning to use them, were asked whether they would cover distances of more or less than 100 miles.
The results showed a definite bias towards more intensive use.
For small vans, the findings revealed that 32% of companies were using them for longer routes, and 18% for shorter journeys.
Meanwhile 30% of fleets are deploying medium-sized vans for longer routes and just 17% for shorter distances.
Fleets using large vans revealed that 29% of those vans were deployed on longer journeys and 27% on shorter routes.
John Peters, head of Arval Mobility Observatory in the UK, which is part of vehicle leasing group Arval UK, said: “This question provides fascinating results that to some extent, contradict the more pessimistic commentary that has emerged in the last couple of years around electric van adoption.
“They indicate that operators are not limiting their electric van ambitions to local routes. In fact, a basic calculation suggests the majority of these vehicles are covering 25,000 or more miles a year.
“Clearly, these fleets are successfully overcoming the kind of range and payload objections that we hear about electric vans, and are using them in a similar, intensive manner as they would diesel panel vans.”
Peters added that comparing the new findings to 2024’s Arval Mobility Observatory Barometer showed there had even been some reductions in the percentage of fleets operating electric vans over sub-100-mile distances daily – down from 25% to 18% among small vans and 24% to 17% among medium-sized vehicles.
“To an extent, these trends suggest the real-world experience of fleets over time is that electric van operation is less compromised than the general narrative suggests.”
The independent survey by Ipsos interviewed 8,061 company decision makers between 26 August and 6 November 2024 across 28 countries, out of which 300 interviews took place in the UK.
