A new committee formed to look at the practicalities of sharing charging infrastructure between fleets operating electric vans has been launched by the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP).

To be led by AFP chair Paul Hollick, it will investigate ways in which businesses can make their own chargers available to other organisations on a reciprocal basis.

It follows research undertaken by the AFP in October that showed almost six out of 10 van fleets (58%) would consider sharing their depot or public charging infrastructure with others to make electrification more practical.

Paul said: “Charging has emerged a key issue for those operating electric vans, whether that means finding power as part of a planned route that exceeds the vehicle’s range, overnight to ensure a van is ready for the following day, or in a part of the country where charging facilities are scarce.

“Many fleet operators can see the potential for sharing their infrastructure on this basis and what we are aiming to do with the new committee is work out the practicalities of such arrangements and how the AFP can work as a facilitator.”

Questions that needed to be answered included mapping the companies that would be interested in taking part, gaining physical access to chargers, booking time when they would be needed, and how charging would be paid for.

“These are all highly practical issues and what we want to do is try to arrive at solutions that mean shared charging can be accessed and paid for easily with the minimum of work. If it becomes too onerous for the companies involved, our view is that they won’t want to take part. The whole idea relies on ease of use.”

He added that the AFP was keen to hear from fleets who would like to be involved both in the new committee and the wider shared charging initiative.

“A key part of our initial activities will simply be to work out whether it looks as though there are enough fleets interested in shared charging on a national basis to make the whole initiative viable, so we need anyone who is interested to get in touch as soon as possible.”

The shared charging committee can be contacted via [email protected].

Progressing zero emissions van deployment is top of the fleet agenda for 2024, according to the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP).

Chair Paul Hollick said that the issue was proving difficult for some businesses with several tricky practical and strategic issues needed to be overcome.

“The view of most van fleets is that electrification, which obviously forms the backbone of the move towards zero emissions, is going to be very much an incremental process because of compromises imposed by the current technology when it comes to key areas such as payload, range and charging.

“Across our membership, the feeling is that these issues can be resolved but that it will take time and a wide range of strategies will need to be applied. For us, it appears that making progress in these areas – and the incremental best practice policies that need to be developed to make this happen – will be the dominant fleet topic for 2024.”

The most immediate problem to tackle, he added, was probably resolving 4.25 tonne electric van derogation, which has been beset by a degree of confusion that had caused many fleets to cancel or delay orders.

 “We’re talking to the relevant official bodies about this and are hopeful that workable solutions will soon appear. Being able to practically operate 4.25t electric panel vans is central to many fleets’ zero emissions plans and this is something that is very much acting as a roadblock to progress.”

A longer-term issue that also needed attention was finding solutions to van charging, with both rapid proliferation of on-street chargers and better access to forecourt charging facilities sorely needed.

“Where drivers can charge a van on their driveway overnight, fleet operations have a head start. However, it is now known that around half live in terraced houses or apartments. The ideal solution to this conundrum is on-street charging and the AFP has been working on a national ‘heat map’ in recent months to show where these are most needed, making the data available to relevant parties such as local authorities and charger companies.

“Also, we’ve been talking to charging companies about better access to forecourt chargers. Simply, the bays are often not big enough or aren’t designed to accommodate light commercial vehicles, and this is proving a major hindrance to fleets that want to use electric vans. Like on-street charging, this is not a problem that will be solved overnight but we are hopeful that progress will be made on both these fronts in 2024.”

The AFP is also planning to create a new working group to investigate the practicalities of shared depot charging, where fleets provide mutual access to on-site facilities.

“We know from our research that there is much potential interest in this idea. What we now need to work out is whether it can be made to work on a practical level,” Paul said.

A further subject that was likely to be on the minds of fleet operators looking for zero emissions solutions in 2024 was hydrogen, he added.

“We’ll be saying more about this soon but the arrival of the Vauxhall e-Vivaro Hydrogen represents probably the first viable opportunity for van fleets to adopt hydrogen. The advantages are a fast refuelling time, 250 mile range, and a purchase price as low as £32,000. The list of disadvantages is long though, starting with a refuelling infrastructure that is so small that it barely exists.

“However, it is clear that at least some of our members are keen to try this vehicle in operational roles where electric vans are considered impractical, creating a multi-fuel zero emissions strategy.”

All of these subjects illustrated the value of being a member of the AFP for van fleet operators, Paul concluded.

“It’s a moment when having access to the expertise and ongoing dialogue that is present within the AFP has massive benefits for any light commercial vehicle fleet that is working towards zero emissions.”

Find out more about AFP membership here – Membership – AFP (theafp.co.uk)

The Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP) has unveiled an extensive programme of training for 2024, as interest in its courses reaches record levels.

In total, the organisation plans to offer 550 days of training through its training arm, the AFP Fleet Academy, the highest number ever, including its predecessor body, the Institute for Car Fleet Management.

Paul Hollick, chair at the AFP, explained: “Enthusiasm for training across the fleet sector has been increasing for some time. Last year we have delivered a record number of training days and are gearing up to exceed that figure in 2024.

“Not only are we seeing increased attendance at our well-established fleet vehicle management courses, but new options we have introduced over the last couple of years in areas such as electric vehicle management have proven very successful.

“We’re also adding new courses in 2024 – Fleet Vehicle Management Foundation is aimed at those in fleet administrator and co-ordinator roles and Your Voice in Fleet will help anyone in a fleet role to make their voice heard more effectively in a corporate environment.

“Across the AFP, we see many fleet professionals who want to enhance their skills and progress their careers, and the courses that we provide are very much designed to meet those needs.”

The AFP is an Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) Centre and its Fleet Vehicle Management courses at Strategic and Advanced levels are accredited, so the organiation can support its members not only in developing their knowledge and skills but also by receiving professional recognition in the motor industry.

Paul added; “Many delegates attending training in the last year have commented how grateful they are to be on one of our programmes, feeling valued by their employer and creating a sense of job security.

“At a time where many employers are finding it hard to attract and retain good people in their organisations, investing in their training and future development is crucial in enhancing business performance and lowering attrition.”

Full details about all of the AFP’s courses, including pricing, dates and locations, is available here.

A new course designed to help fleet professionals make their voices heard in a corporate environment is being launched by the Association of Fleet Professionals’ (AFP) for 2024.

Called “Accelerate – Your Voice in Fleet,” it has been designed by the AFP’s Fleet Academy to help those working in the industry make their knowledge, ideas and experience heard, whether giving a speech at a major formal occasion or during a routine internal meeting.

Ronnie Gillman, training manager at the AFP, said: “Last year, we launched this course for women working in fleet, which has proven very popular, and were asked to provide a similar course open to everyone working in the fleet industry.

“Many people find public speaking of any kind daunting, even in front of just a handful of colleagues. Fear of public speaking can potentially limit the effectiveness of highly competent people in their roles and this is an area we are keen to address through this course.

“The content covers areas such as how to gain confidence, limit your fears, convey messages clearly and easily, and create a repeatable formula that enables you to bring your own style and target your content for the audience. It’s all about creating a practical approach to something that affects many fleet professionals.”

The first course will take place in Tamworth on 21^st-22^nd May 2024, priced at £650 for AFP members and £750 for non-members. More details are available at theafp.co.uk/product/accelerate-your-voice-in-fleet-21st-22nd-may-2024.

Ronnie said: “Stepping outside of your comfort zone is never easy but we create a supportive environment where delegates can learn to become more confident public speakers, developing a toolkit that can be learnt, honed and repeated.”

Fleets are starting to enter a “tougher” period of electrification in 2024, the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP) is reporting.

Paul Hollick, chair, said that a number of factors were combining to potentially slow the rate at which electric vehicles (EVs) were being adopted by businesses and that fleet managers needed new strategies to maintain momentum.

“When it comes to electrification, so far fleets have largely been picking low hanging fruit in large quantities. That means switching company car drivers with space for their own off-road chargers into EVs, with very low personal taxation as a considerable carrot. This has been hugely successful, and we expect that part of the market to continue to move forward as more models become available and electric fleet cars become the absolute norm.

“The issues lie elsewhere and the list is quite long. For example, there is still a general absence of pick-ups, 4x4s and other specialist vehicles in the EV sector, towing capacity is uncertain, insurance costs are rising very rapidly and are sometimes prohibitive, and there are still no easy charging solutions for people living in terraced houses or apartments.”

Paul said that creating a consistent used market for EVs was a further challenge and one where fleets needed to work in conjunction with the remarketing sector.

“The drop in EV values seen in the last year has made dealers understandably wary while confidence among at least some consumers has been shaken by the government’s 2035 move and a steady stream of EV-bashing stories in some sections of the media.

“Also, we’re in a situation where fleets arguably have too many of the ‘wrong’ EVs for the used market. There is a surfeit of prestige saloons and SUVs around, and a shortage of bread and butter family hatchbacks. This has, to some extent, been a reflection of the kind of EVs available to buy so far, but it does lead to supply distortions.”

An area that presented a series of electrification challenges on its own was vans, Paul added.

“Some fleets in some applications are adopting electric vans without any problems but they are almost certainly in the minority. Ultimately, while things are improving, the range and payload of the available models just doesn’t meet the needs of most operators, while the charging infrastructure is not yet in a place to offset these disadvantages.

“The operational compromises required to overcome these issues are considerable, and some of our members have currently paused their commercial vehicle electrification as a result.”

Fleet managers were working hard to overcome all of these challenges, Paul said, and showing a high degree of drive and ingenuity.

“There is no doubt that this phase of electrification is tougher and there are no easy answers to any of the problems that are being encountered. However, we’re seeing many kinds of new best practice ideas being developed and shared across the AFP that are having an impact. It is one of those moments when being a member of the organisation brings maximum benefits.”

A new committee launched by the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP) aims to break down barriers in the workplace by promoting equality, diversity and inclusivity.

The Diversity and Leadership Committee’s aims include creating guidance and promoting best practice for AFP members and the wider fleet community, providing a safe space to explore difficult topics, shaping future training within the AFP Fleet Academy, and engaging with a diverse group of individuals and businesses in fleet to develop understanding.

Denise Lane, board member at the AFP, said: “There has been a real drive in many professional environments to promote equality, diversity and inclusivity, and the formation of this new committee is designed to create a focus point for efforts being made in this area within the fleet industry.

“The AFP is already working closely with several members who feel as though their voice is not always heard, helping them to bring about change in their particular workplace. Creating this forum where their ideas and thinking can be developed will help us to bring greater structure to those efforts on an industrywide basis.

“Job one for us will be to create a range of best practice advice that can be applied across the fleet sector, to engage employees, help employers to attract a broader range of talent, and encourage leadership that promotes diversity.”

The committee started work last month and is made up of AFP members in both fleet operator and fleet service provider roles.

Notes to Editors:

Formed in 2020, the Association of Fleet Professionals brings together over 1,200 fleet professionals to form the recognised industry body for car and light commercial fleet management. A not-for-profit organisation, it provides everything from training and campaigning through to white papers and events, as well as creating a wide range of committees and forums for the discussion of current issues and best practice. More details can be found at www.theafp.co.uk.

Fleets and insurers need to collaborate to ensure the degree of risk surrounding electric vehicles (EVs) is understood, says the Association of Fleet Professionals

The industry body says that evidence from its members indicates that some insurers have recently been increasing premiums for EVs, based on what appears to be incorrect and, in some instances, irrelevant information.

Paul Hollick, chair, explained: “We’re hearing of issues in certain areas. The first is the repair data that insurers employ to calculate premiums. Many are using information based entirely on experience with Teslas and applying this across the board to all EVs, even to vans.

“Clearly, this is problematic. The repair profile of Teslas is applicable only to Teslas, in the same way as any other manufacturer, and has very little relevance to commercial vehicles. Fleets and insurers need to be working together to create a situation where premiums can be calculated based on much better and directly applicable data.”

A second issue, he said, was that insurers seemed unsure of the value of an EV that had been written off in an accident.

“This is especially the case where the battery may have been damaged as part of the write-off. Some insurers seem to be working on the incorrect basis that the vehicle has no market worth. Again, this needs to be included in the maths behind premiums.”

Finally, there appeared to be an undue amount of worry about the possibility of EV fires and the potential for damage to then spread beyond the vehicle itself to other cars and vans, as well as surrounding property.

“EV fires, when they occur, are a serious issue, but experience so far shows that they are very rare – substantially less likely than fires in ICE vehicles – and we are unaware of cases where there has been a fire and a significant amount of harm has been caused in the immediate vicinity. The risk is just not that high.”

Paul said that the AFP was keen to work with insurers to share their experience of EV operation and provide the information needed to calculate more precise premiums.

“At this point, it’s very much about opening a dialogue that will probably continue over some time. We understand that insurers want to be conservative when it comes to new technology and that this approach applies to EVs but we also believe that fleets are in a position to provide the operational evidence to show that the risks and costs associated with EVs are much lower than many appear to believe.”

Two new deputy chairs have been appointed by the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP).

Lorna McAtear and Matt Hammond have replaced the outgoing deputy chair, Stewart Lightbody.

Lorna is a winner of the Barbara Cox Award, Greenfleet’s Outstanding Achievement Award for her services to the industry and Head of Fleet at National Grid. She holds an international CPC, is a regular and respected contributor at industry conferences and round tables, an AFP board member and a judge for the Fleet News Awards.

Also an AFP board member, Matt is current Fleet News Fleet Manager of the Year, and a national and international CPC holder with over 12 years of experience in transport and fleet management. He is a winner of the Fleet News Safe Fleet Award, as well as Road Risk Manager of the Year at the Brake Fleet Awards, and Fleet Manager of the Year at both the What Van and Business Car Awards.

AFP chair Paul Hollick said: “Lorna and Matt are extremely well known and respected across the fleet sector with a huge amount of expertise. We are sure they will prove important assets to our organisation in their new deputy chair roles.”

He added that the move to two deputy chairs had been made in recognition of the diversity of knowledge and skills that the position demanded.

“In the three years since it was created, the AFP has grown rapidly, with a large number of events, projects, committees and training courses all underway. The deputy chair role is important to making sure that all of these commitments are fulfilled so it was decided that the role should be shared by two people, who are after all, volunteers.

“Stewart has done an excellent job over the last few years and we’d like to express our thanks to him for bringing great expertise and panache to the position. He remains a member of our board and a key part of the AFP.”

A new project from the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP) is aiming to create the “definitive picture” when it comes to comparing electric vehicle (EV) service, maintenance and repair (SMR) costs to their internal combustion engine (ICE) equivalents.

Paul Hollick chair at the AFP, said that much of the current data and information surrounding the subject was incomplete, inconsistent or contradictory – and that the objective was to cut through the noise to provide something as close as possible to a conclusive guide.

“There’s been an assumption ever since EVs started appearing on fleets that their SMR would be substantially cheaper than petrol and diesel cars and vans because there are fewer moving and wear parts. However, real world data has until recently been in short supply because comparatively few fleets have been operating EVs for any length of time.

“Various sources have been issuing what you might call work-in-progress SMR data over the last year or more, providing a snapshot picture of their experiences with EVs but it has been difficult to build a consistent picture. Some are reporting that SMR profiles are cheaper than ICE vehicles, as expected, but others have seen a more complex picture across different models and types of vehicle, especially when it comes to the wear and prices of EV tyres.

“This is problematic for fleets because it means that they don’t really have access to information that can show whether what they are spending on EV SMR is broadly consistent with what is being seen across the rest of the fleet sector. They have no way of knowing whether their managerial performance is good, bad or indifferent, and therefore no credible route to benchmarking or developing best practice.

“Many businesses are keen to tackle these issues in order to decide whether to bring their EV SMR in-house, something that many of our members appear to be currently considering.”

Paul said that now also seemed a good time to look at this situation because a comparatively large amount of SMR EV data was starting to become available.

“There are now quite a lot of fleets that now have two, three and even four-year-old electric cars, so we are close to having complete life cycles on which to base our research, showing how EVs stand up to wear and tear over a period of time, and how this impacts on the amount of SMR they need.

“We’re not really in that situation with electric vans yet – even the most experienced fleets don’t tend to have many that are much more than a year old – but we’re going to aim to provide as much information as we can in that area.

“We’ve appointed an independent consultant to lead the research as soon as possible and produce initial results by the end of September. This is a fleet subject where it seems to us that some kind of definitive picture is very much needed, and the AFP is well positioned to meet that requirement.”

New mentoring services aimed at enabling experienced fleet managers to pass on their knowledge to newer entrants to the sector has been introduced by the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP).

A range of different channels have been created through which advice can be sought and expertise shared, headlined by what the professional body describes as “light” and “full” one-to-one mentoring.

The light service sees the mentee paired with an AFP board member or committee member, who will then spend an hour a month providing free mentoring, generally through a video call. It is expected that this will be used to provide younger or less experienced fleet managers with an opportunity to regularly check their overall approach to handling fleet issues.

Full mentoring is more intensive and includes regular coaching and ongoing support, as well as on-site meetings if they are required, but stops short of providing hands-on style consultancy. Because of the time commitment involved on the part of the mentor, this level of mentoring is chargeable.

Paul Hollick, AFP chair, said: “With a lot of fleet managers closing in on retirement, there is a danger that much of the experience in the sector could be lost in the next few years as seasoned experts retire. This is an issue of which the AFP is very much aware and we have been examining a range of solutions.

“Mentoring is one of the answers we have so far identified and is a great way for experienced fleet managers to pass on their knowledge to new entrants to fleet. It creates strong relationships across different age groups and experience levels, and is good for individuals and the profession as a whole.”

Other mentoring options created by the AFP include the fleet operator open forum, a quarterly online relaxed discussion designed to enable members to talk about issues they are facing, and hear the views and experience of others; the AFP fleet operator WhatsApp, which allows individuals to post questions informally and ask for advice from other professionals; and finally, the member area of the organisation’s web site, where questions can be posted to ask the views and advice of others alongside a searchable database to check whether topics have already been covered.

Paul said: “Through this range of channels, we are hoping to provide the means for a generational exchange of information between younger and older fleet managers that will help to maintain and improve the huge amount of expertise held within the profession.

In addition, the fleet industry has never before faced so many challenges and changes, requiring fleet managers to develop new skillsets in areas some may find unfamiliar or even daunting so the ability to be mentored by a more experienced Fleet professional who can give some additional support and guidance can only be beneficial.

“We’d also like to hear from any fleet managers who would like to get involved in the mentoring initiative, whether as mentor and mentee.  Those interested should email [email protected].”