Electric Vans in the UK: What Fleet Operators Actually Need (and Why Smart Charging Isn’t the Default Yet)
Electric van adoption is accelerating, but the operational reality for fleets is very different from passenger EV ownership. A UK government-commissioned study (delivered by TRL for DESNZ) examined how commercial fleets are adopting electric vans, where charging actually happens, and why “smart charging” remains under-used.
Fleet electrification succeeds when route patterns are predictable, charging is primarily overnight, and organisations treat charging as an operations programme—not a hardware purchase.
1) What the research covered (and what it did not)
The study explored (1) commercial van driving and charging patterns, (2) barriers and enablers for adopting electric vans, and (3) barriers and enablers for installing and using smart charging approaches.
Method note: the study used a fleet operator survey plus interviews with operators and drivers, spanning multiple sectors and fleet sizes. It was not designed to be statistically representative of every UK fleet, but it is extremely useful for operational planning because it describes how real fleets behave.
2) Charging reality: overnight dominates, daytime is the exception
The clearest operational pattern is that most electric van charging occurs overnight—roughly between 20:00 and 07:00. Charging during typical working hours is less common and is generally described as undesirable.
| Time window | Most common charging location(s) | What it implies for fleet planning |
|---|---|---|
| Overnight | Depot charging and private/residential charging (including on-street residential) | Design for reliability, queueing control, and predictable turnaround before shift start |
| Daytime | En-route/public charging (with depot charging a secondary option) | Daytime charging is often treated as “contingency”, not a standard operating model |
3) Which fleets adopt electric vans first?
Early adoption tends to cluster in businesses with shorter and/or more consistent daily mileage per shift. Fleets with highly variable distances are less likely to adopt—primarily due to range uncertainty and the operational burden of charging mid-shift.
Another consistent pattern: many operators electrify only a portion of their fleet—deploying EVs on the “best-fit” routes while keeping ICE vehicles for the most demanding, variable, or longer-range use cases.
4) The adoption blockers that keep coming up
- Concern that current electric van models cannot cover required daily distances without mid-shift charging
- Uncertainty about real-world range under payload and duty cycle conditions
- Reluctance to build “daytime charging” into working patterns
- Operators without a back-to-depot model expect to rely on public charging—and view it as expensive
- Concerns about reliability, suitability for larger vans, and waiting/queueing
- Depot charging can require costly electrical upgrades (capacity, substations, cabling)
- Home chargepoint installation is not feasible for many drivers
- Unclear responsibility for equipment ownership, maintenance, and access
- Reimbursement processes for away-from-depot charging create admin overhead
5) Smart charging: why it is not yet mainstream in van fleets
The report identified only a minority using smart charging approaches. A key finding is that smart charging is often not rejected on principle—it is simply deprioritised while organisations focus on adopting electric vans at all.
What holds fleets back
- Low awareness and limited understanding of smart charging approaches
- Unclear benefits at the organisation level (and especially at the driver level)
- Perceived setup and operational effort outweighing potential savings
- Sequencing problem: “we’ll do smart charging later” after we stabilise EV operations
6) Practical playbook: how to de-risk an electric van rollout (UK)
EV Charger Experts checklistStep 1 — Segment routes before you buy vehicles
- Separate routes by daily mileage, variability, payload sensitivity, and dwell time
- Assign EVs to “predictable and rechargeable” routes first
- Maintain a contingency plan for exceptions (seasonal peaks, urgent jobs, diversions)
Step 2 — Build charging around overnight reliability
- Model depot arrivals/departures and design to avoid queueing at shift boundaries
- Prioritise uptime: hardware quality, maintenance contracts, and fault response
- Plan electrical capacity early—upgrades are a timeline risk
Step 3 — Decide your home-charging policy explicitly
- Define which roles qualify for home charging vs depot charging
- Set reimbursement rules for home, public, and en-route charging
- Document responsibility: hardware ownership, access, and end-of-employment scenarios
Step 4 — Add managed/smart charging when it solves a real constraint
- Use smart charging to reduce peak loads and avoid capacity upgrades
- Align with time-of-use tariffs where available
- Start simple (scheduled charging) and evolve (load management, third-party systems, V2X where viable)
FAQ: electric vans and smart charging
Is daytime public charging a workable “default” for vans?
It can work for some duty cycles, but the research indicates daytime charging is often treated as a less desirable option. If you must rely on public charging mid-shift, plan for cost volatility, availability constraints, and downtime.
Why do many fleets electrify only part of their vans?
Mixed fleets are a rational operational strategy: EVs are assigned to predictable routes, while ICE vehicles cover longer, more variable, or payload-sensitive use cases until EV capability and charging access improve.
When should a fleet invest in smart charging?
Invest when you have a clear constraint to solve—typically depot capacity limits, peak demand costs, or the need to scale chargers without expensive electrical upgrades. Start with simple scheduling and load management; expand only as value is proven.
