Challenges for all

Grahame Neagus, Head of LCV, Renault Trucks UK & Ireland

As 2023 is set to be the hottest year in history, heralded by record temperatures and wildfires across Southern Europe and the Americas, the news has been awash with commentators and businesses calling for urgent action by a variety of means, not least the transition to zero-emissions vehicles.

Here in the UK the Government is set to implement the new ZEV Mandate from 1st January 2024 for all OEMs. Assuming this stays in its current guise, the mandate will require all car and van OEMs a minimum percentage target of zero emission vehicles to be registered each year. For LCVs, this starts at 10 percent for 2024, rising every year until we hit 70% by 2030 and 100 percent by 2035.

For many outside our industry looking in, this is a welcome set of targets that will contribute to overall CO2 reduction, and which, on the face of it, sound reasonably easy to achieve and must surely accelerate production – and uptake - of ZEVs.

For those of us inside the industry however, there are some challenges, with 2024’s target swiftly followed by the huge jump in 2025 to 19% of LCV registrations. The reality is, if the buying public do not get on board and purchase zero emission vehicles, opting either to keep their existing diesels or indeed buying what could be their last or second to last ICE models, then trying to balance the overall production volumes of global OEMs and the percentage of EVs within that will be no mean feat – or pay the fine for non-compliance.

On a recent journey to East Anglia, I passed a large field, filled with a sea of brand new, pre-registered electric cars and vans from another OEM. By the looks of the registration plates, these vehicles were probably pre-registered to hit the 2022 target, but I do wonder if this might be a sign of the future as manufacturers take extreme measures to avoid ZEV mandate fines, only to be left with huge volumes of pre-registered stock that is in excess of the market demand.

As an industry, we support the Government’s 2050 Net Zero target, and we are playing our part. Yet we still need more from the Government in terms of incentivising operators to make the switch to zero emission vehicles, as well as how it intends to plug the gap that will inevitably be left once the tax revenue from diesel sales finally dries up.

As part of our approach here at Renault Trucks, our strategic philosophy is to deliver the best, most efficient vehicle for our customer’s application. And whilst we believe that, with a routeplanning approach, 90% of urban operations should be within the scope of a battery electric vehicle by the end of 2023, the latest, ultra-clean Euro VI Step E diesel engines may still best suit an operator’s specific needs and application complexity, especially if they choose to run it on HVO as a stepping stone towards net zero. In a time when diesel engines are at their cleanest and most efficient, the route to net zero must be about taking a blended approach, starting with those applications such as last mile logistics where an EV variant is well suited to the operator’s needs, today and in the future.

It’s already happening. In the heart of our cities, across the UK and mainland Europe, you will see the huge explosion of last mile and last metre logistics solutions like the eCargo Bike. Recently celebrated in the 4th annual Cargo Bike Cruise, over 200 businesses around the London Bridge area alone have made the switch since 2019. Taking to cycle paths and city roads, many are abandoning the conventional van, regardless of fuel type, for the versatility and speed of an eCargo Bike. And whilst this is great news, for many van OEMs that’s another potential EV van sale gone in their quest for hitting the mandate’s minimum figure.

We will make it work because we have to make it work. OEMs are investing billions in bringing innovations and new technologies to market. But we can’t do this alone. We need government support to assist in the transition, from EV infrastructure to incentivising near zero fuels as a stepping stone, or helping operators transition with more fiscal incentives to purchase the right asset today rather than leaving it to later on in the decade.

In an economy where we are all looking to reuse, recycle and be sustainable, the thought of seeing more fields of new vehicles, built and registered many months ago, parked up rather than fulfilling their green potential, just to enable OEMs to hit their ZEV mandate targets feels very wrong.