There have been plenty of brands and new models vying for top spot at this week’s Geneva Motor Show, from supercars to vehicles that will become high-end collectibles before they’ve even gone into mainstream production. But one of the surprise highlights has been the interest in the Mercedes VITO E-Cell Crew Bus.

You can almost hear the sigh of relief from the EV sector, who have tried everything to drum up interest from offering huge plug-in grant discounts off retail prices to marketing the fuel savings, many trade columns even highlighting the fact that the battery-powered range will invite cheap van insurance, but to little effect, thus far.

It’s almost as if the automotive sector have seen the electric van as something of a novelty, perhaps deemed okay for the domestic car, but an electric vehicle put through its paces in a commercial sense? The market has simply not been convinced.

One of the key sticking points thus far, echoed by many men and women of influence within the trade, is the slow progress in the roll out of plug in charge points. Any savings to be had on cheap van insurance would be negated if your van ran out of juice half way between Liverpool and Bristol and the one top-up meter en route was out of order. The resulting 740 stations from a target of 7,100 has just not convinced industry that battery power is a viable option. Yet.

However, the fact that one of the ‘big’ brands has now produced and is actively marketing a larger electric commercial may cut those who are responsible for meeting emission targets some slack, as there has been a very real interest in the Mercedes model this week in Geneva.

The VITO E-Cell is being looked upon as the ideal carbon-free vehicle for ferrying up to seven passengers around emission-sensitive zones, such as the London LEZ and densely populated estates in other areas of the country. With 100 mile range on one charge at optimum driving levels, it is hoped that this will deliver on certain journeys in built up areas, especially for minibuses that operate privately for communities that have special needs, such as the elderly or members of our society with learning or physical disabilities.

Many of those organisations are not for profit or operated by public sectors that have huge budgets but also the responsibilities of staying within target. It is hoped that they will see the fuel savings and cheap van insurance as a tool they can work with, rather than it work against them, winning them plaudits rather than vilification. For those that are, fifteen countries are scheduled to launch the VITO E-Cell in May, so not too long to wait to see whether interest is just passing or enough has been done to turn that curiosity into sales.

There is a long way to go, yet, down the road for the electric van; let’s hope it’s got the juice to make it.

Due to their recent appointment to Westminster, SMMT have found themselves with fashionable floor space at the chambers’ heart. What better place for them – and the government – to showcase the electric vans that are supposed to be bringing us cost savings on everything from the retail price, to (substantially) fuel and cheap van insurance?

Despite the lack of popularity for the electric vans and the country being offered bungs for incorporating them into their range, SMMT have decided to parade three of the brands that appear on the government’s shortlist for those manufacturers and models that can claim up to £8,000 off the list price. Mmm, nice!

zWeb is a unique feature of Peugeot’s eBipper, the petrol/diesel model transmigrated into an electric van by Allied Electric. The zWeb literally is an eye in the sky as it monitors an engine’s performance from a distance; its technology even assesses each battery cell for charge and temperature so that the battery delivers optimum performance, adjusting energy input to suit the driving conditions.

Many larger organisations are turning to fleet management power houses in an attempt to deliver cost savings on fuel, wear and tear and thus reduce van insurance premiums; the zWeb, in effect, is doing just that through this intuitive software.

The Smith Edison, by Smith Electrical Vehicles, goes to the other end of the spectrum. From the compact Bipper, we see how electric vans can cope in larger models through Smith’s chassis cab, based on the best-selling Ford Transit. As well as showing that size needn’t be a stumbling block for battery-powered vans, this model shows diversity, too.

The chassis cab, being the variation on show at the SMMT Westminster exhibition, comes as a minibus, for carrying crew to and from site, adaptable chassis and the classic panel van, and also offers a spectrum of weight classes, from 3.5 to 4.6 ton (gvw). The chassis variation permits all the versatility you would expect, allowing the back end to be modified for the specific use the businessman has in mind, whether that is delivering refrigerated and frozen food stuffs, box wagon, flat bed with drop side or even a tipper van for loose loads for construction or rubbish.

Smith Edison has really looked into what is holding consumers back from opting for electric vans, cheap van insurance notwithstanding, with additional features that will make the transition smooth and painless.  More tomorrow when we look at what those improvements to battery life mean in real terms and will look at the Azure Dynamics’ Transit Connect, another electric van based around the old Ford classic.

The world of commercial vehicle management is changing at a pace that is unprecedented. New innovations in technology are not only governing the amount of miles by which van drivers can reduce their route, through incorporating intelligent fleet management systems, the way van drivers perform whilst out on the road can also be analysed.

This is fantastic news for fleet managers looking to save money and get a cheap van insurance deal; if they have evidence of improved driver qualifications to show to their insurer or broker, they’ll not only see reductions in their van insurance quotes but also improvements on their budget’s bottom line.

The theory is simple – the better the van driver, the less accidents; the less accidents, the less time taken up dealing with claims and off-road time; the less claims and off-road time, the cheaper van insurance expenses are and better productivity delivered all around for the entire fleet. As the whole industry wakes up to the fact that it is by investing in drivers as well as technology, new innovations are populating the market to accommodate this new way of thinking.

The 2012 CV Show will see another modernisation in tradition that will hopefully make fleet drivers’ performance leaner and more conscious themselves of their driving activity. Tachotrain has been referred to as a ‘revolutionary’ tool to enable van drivers to undergo periodic tests based upon a report generated from tracking and monitoring their driving patterns. This will keep them updated on critical driving legislation and health and safety regulations by way of engaging in multiple choice tests through a virtual training facility.

Built into the system are directives from several key aspects of law, including driving hours (as you would expect, from Tachodisc, the company behind Tachotrain), road worthiness and transport directives. Aspects of training can often be seen as unproductive and scheduling such assessments can often conflict with an employees commitments. However, this piece of kit even incorporates a way around that.

By feeding in employee-specific information, the report can be ran on a number of headings, from work location to employee job title, from depot to management upline, enabling the scheduling of the online assessments, which can be undertaken as long as the software is installed on a PC and there is a working internet connection.

The reports generated by Tachotrain truly are flexible; the insights they give into driving trends and ongoing staff development can significantly reduce costs on man hours, fuel cost and fleet van insurance, when deployed correctly.

The CV Show runs from April 24-26th inclusive at the Birmingham National Exhibition Centre.

In a recent statement by Schneider Electric, national EV business manager David Greaves, the multi-national conglomerate is right behind the government’s recent announcement of offering up to £8,000 off the list price off one of seven makes of electric van, trumping the figure dangled as the carrot for domestic drivers by 60%.

However, the lack of plug-in top-up chargers is a very real consideration and may be counter productive in the big scheme of the government initiative until it irons out that very big crease. There are plusses and minuses for both car and van drivers aside from the issue that both will qualify for either cheaper car or van insurance by going ultra-marine green in their driving

Car drivers do tend to drive less miles and their routes are, give or take, fixed five days a week. The school and place of work never get any further away from home then they were when you went to bed last night.

Business customers, however, if the sales team are doing anything like a decent job, can come from anywhere. For a rep going into a new lead, only to be told when they get back to the office that the customer cannot be serviced because the vans won’t make it there and back on one charge, is as big a downer than someone who doesn’t think like a rep on commission (and they do think very differently) would believe.

On the opposite side of that coin, commercial vehicle drivers will see more of a benefit from the fuel savings that are forecast by adopting electric vans, as well as the expectation of greater savings by taking out multiple cheap van insurance policies, than the domestic driver. And the savings keep topping up for those who convert more of their range to electric power.

Due to the engine efficiency needed to deliver zero emissions, it is perceived that there will be less time off road for maintenance, especially where the battery is concerned. One of the quirks of the sales structure that all manufacturers and dealers of the EV range is adopting is that the manufacturer retains ownership of the battery at all times; the van owner leases the battery in a win-win situation. The manufacturer gets constant income and the worry of maintenance is never a concern of the van owner nor their insurance broker, which is one of the reasons that cheap van insurance is associated with the electric van range.

Predictions are, in the short term, that smaller organisations who have a very local customer base, or franchises that are part of national chain and look solely after the customers that fall within their boundary, will be the first to jump on the EV bandwagon. This will depend upon having adequate numbers of top-up charging points to really swing the deal – fuel savings and cheap van insurance will not be enough in their own rite; last year, installation was woeful against the target number of 4,700 EV charging points, achieving the grand total of 704 that were fully functional.

If the government is serious, it will have to do a whole lot better than that to convince both the public and industry that they can genuinely get behind the green van revolution and achieve the downsized carbon footprint required.