Arming the fleet – accelerating businesses scale adoption of EVs

Road transport is a significant source of carbon emissions, likely contributing to accelerated climate change. The Road to Zero has been put in place to decarbonise road transport, setting out the broad direction for a zero-emission vehicle transition. Battery electric vehicles are viewed as the main solution to clean-up transport, with 34.9mn projected to be on British roads in 2050.

Despite this, the Road to Zero broadly ignores the fleet industry. With estimates suggesting there are five million fleet vehicles in operation, this is a critical part of the road transport in Great Britain. A lack of clear policy alongside limited engagement between the fleet and electricity industries presents a barrier to the fleet transition to electric vehicles.

This paper finds that to overcome these challenges and capitalise on opportunities fleet electrification presents, there is a need to:

  • drive greater cross-sector engagement
  • take simple no-regrets policy action now
  • build innovation bridges to increase the fleet industry’s awareness of fast-paced developments in the wider electricity industry

These recommendations could accelerate the business-scale adoption of electric vehicles.

The Road to Zero has been put in place to decarbonise road transport, setting out the broad direction for a zero-emission vehicle transition.
Tom Lusher

Tom Lusher

To keep reading, please log in to your account

Log in
Contact us

Related thinking

Business supply and services

Addressing the cost of electrification

This report outlines the challenges that energy intensive industries (EIIs) face in decarbonising their heat supply, (currently dominated by natural gas) by switching to grid-supplied electricity. The paper has been sponsored by the Confederation for Paper Industries (CPI) and therefore has a particular focus. However, many of the challenges highlighted...

E-mobility and low carbon

Leading the charge! Fleet charging – a catalyst for the EV revolution

PwC & Cornwall Insight have partnered to better understand and explain the rapidly evolving market for fleet electrification. Fleet charging has the potential to revolutionise EVs. It has the scale to accelerate the adoption of EVs across the UK, improve air quality, lower noise pollution and ultimately play a critical...

E-mobility and low carbon

Electric Vehicles: ‘Driven to Disruption’?

The electrification of road transport is rising swiftly up the policy agenda. It will have profound impacts across the electricity value chain. This paper explains and evaluates the electricity supplier offerings emerging for electric vehicles (EVs), driven largely by consumer demand, and how policy and regulatory frameworks need to adapt...

Low carbon generation

A Great Leap Forward? Offshore Wind in Ireland

The Irish energy industry faces fundamental changes, making this research a timely and important call to action. Ireland has only 25MW of installed offshore wind capacity but has some of Europe’s best wind resource. Large-scale deployment has strayed behind other markets due to lack of strong policy support. However, evolving...