With EV technology advancing rapidly, and customer expectations shifting towards sustainability, Grahame Neagus, LCV Manager Renault Trucks UK & Ireland, looks at what this means for operators.
The government’s rationale for tightening regulations around ICE vehicles of all sizes is understandable, with the ZEV Mandate a key tool in its wider push toward electrification and environmental goals. Yet achieving these objectives without transitional strategies or meaningful collaboration with industry stakeholders, including OEMs and customers, creates unnecessary disruption. This is especially true in traditional sectors, such as the removals industry.
For decades, this industry has relied on diesel-powered vehicles fitted with specialist bodies to transport both domestic and business clients, nationally and internationally. That reliance has created deep-rooted habits and expectations.
But things are changing. In many cases, average mileages have reduced over recent years, which means that, as technology improves, electric powertrains are no longer a distant aspiration, they are a realistic option for many operations in 2025.
Changing demand patterns
As society shifts, so too does the removals sector. Increasingly, people are moving locally - often from inner cities to suburban or semi-rural areas in search of a better quality of life.
Long-distance relocations still exist, particularly for those retiring to different parts of the country, but the proportion of short, local moves has grown. This matters because electric vehicles (EVs) are already well-suited to such operations.
Consider two examples.
- First, the urban move: a family may be relocating a couple of miles down the road due to school catchment areas or a little further afield, perhaps 25-40 miles from a city centre to the suburbs. These journeys often involve negotiating congested streets and low or zero emission zones. For such tasks, an electric 4-tonne low-loader with a 24m³ body is already a practical solution. On a Renault Trucks Master, for example, its capable of carrying around 1,400kg and achieving over 200 miles on a full charge and can be driven on a standard Category B car licence, provided mileage stays within 100km (62 miles). For operators, that means not only meeting the requirements of urban zero emission zones but also delivering savings through lower energy and maintenance, while at the same time offering customers a zero-emission move and strengthening the company’s reputation for sustainable services.
- Second, the long-distance move: relocating across several hundred miles. Here, larger electric 18 and 26 tonne trucks are already part of operators’ options, with the capability to take on longer routes as battery ranges increase. With careful planning, including use of driver rest breaks and exploring options such as swap bodies, today even journeys of 500km can be achieved in compliance with regulations. Two vehicles meeting at a midway point to exchange load bodies is one example of how range challenges can be overcome. What once seemed out of reach is increasingly possible if operators are willing to think differently.
Financing and fleet renewal
One of the barriers to rapid adoption lies not in “technology” but in “tradition”. The removals sector has long been oriented toward capital purchase. Vehicles are often kept in service for many years, and while this approach makes sense for diesel fleets, it creates a barrier when the initial purchase price of an electric truck is significantly higher. Even with lower energy and maintenance costs over the lifetime of the vehicle, the upfront investment is hard to justify without confidence in residual values or supportive government policy.
Leasing has become more common outside the removals industry, particularly for electric vehicles, because it takes away the risk of unknown end-of-term values and keeps the cost off balance sheet. For operators, it can free up capital for other priorities. But for widespread adoption, financial incentives and clear, stable policy are essential. Operators are ready to invest, but they need the certainty that the substantial capital required for electric trucks will be underpinned by government support and the right charging infrastructure.
In truth, the difference between operating an ICE vehicle and an EV today is smaller than many assume ...
Photo: Vertellus allows businesses to test fully electric trucks, complete with portable chargers, for set periods.
Click here to read the full story in The Mover magazine.