With the recent news of a fuel tax increase on the cards, van and delivery drivers could be hit the hardest due to rising diesel and petrol costs. Whilst the extra 3p per litre could raise up to £1billion for the UK’s Treasury, it’s not so good news for van drivers who could face spending around an extra £250 per year on fuel. Reports suggest that despite a fuel tax freeze of 9 years, Chancellor Rishi Sunak is considering scrapping this in an attempt to pay off lockdown costs. Who can say how long these economic effects could last on the delivery industry?
With these rising fuel costs in mind, and more and more motor companies pledging to produce only electric-charged vehicles from 2025, could the future of Britain’s vans be green? After all, British Gas is the latest company to battle climate change and air pollution, by making the biggest ever order of electric vehicles here in the UK.
British Gas has placed an order for 1,000 of Vauxhall’s new and electric Vivaro-e vans for their engineers, with a plan to order more of the battery electric vehicles as soon as they become available. This could also involve the new Vauxhall Combo-e (available from summer this year) which is equally 100% electric and a strong contender for the small van market. In addition to these commitments, British Gas (owned by the company Centrica) is determined to become fully electric with their vehicles nationwide by the year 2030, across their entire workforce.
British Gas will choose to provide electric vans to volunteer employees, but with an objective of focusing on areas where emissions need lowering, and where there are needs for van replacements. Worry not about charger points – British Gas are ahead of the game and will be installing electric chargers at the homes of their engineers, and they are already in the process of training their engineers in electric vehicle charging.
British Gas is leading the way to meet their ‘net-zero targets’, and highlighting the importance of decreasing van emissions in local communities in a bid for improved air quality. Since the start of the pandemic, over 4 million deliveries of meals have been made by their engineers, to those who need it most.
So, has this got you thinking of possibly owning an electric van in the near future? Do you already have one? Either way, we’ve got you covered with the cheapest electric van insurance costs right here.