Never before in my living memory and 25 years in this industry have so many factors lined up to influence the fortunes of new and used vans. 

In this series of blogs I consider the latest acronyms to hit our industry ULEZ, CAZ, WLTP and RFL to name a few. One thing is for sure, there are more questions than answers and it’s going to be a fun few years! 
 
So let’s take a look at that hot topic, fuel, and the likely influence of Euro 6.

As the government pushes to meet the EU’s latest emission targets, the current strategy and legislation clearly favours Euro 6 diesels and alternatively fuelled vehicles. 

So what’s the cost? When Euro 6 was introduced, the increase in list price for trucks and buses with the technology to meet the standard was up to £10,000. And of course list prices for cars, vans and trucks have increased in recent years, not helped by the weak exchange rate since the Brexit vote.
 
In my view, it isn’t the higher capital cost associated with new and alternative technologies (off set by varying degrees of whole life cost saving) that will hold back rapid growth in the short term, it is the infrastructure of charging points and gas fuelling 

Aside from that, battery range will need to significantly increase because the majority of new vans are sold to high average annual mileage corporate fleets. 

The Government’s recent consultation for moving 3.5t to 4.2 GVW for electric vans is sensible, despite some MOT and driver licensing issues to overcome. 

Ironically, the large number of low mileage SME and sole traders who travel a low daily mileage in a small radius (and who can’t stretch to brand new) are the ideal operators for an electric or alternatively fuelled van.
 
However, with no first life users currently opting for these in any volume there is minimal supply and it looks like diesel will remain the norm for these second hand buyers and operators for some years to come.

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James Davis