By Paul Homewood
A bit more detail on Vauxhall’s decision to close their Luton factory, which only makes vans:
https://www.vauxhall.co.uk/vans/all-new-vivaro/electric.html
The above, which still appears on their website, confirmed their original plan to make Vivaro electric vans at Luton, alongside diesel vans.
So what has changed?
According to SMMT data, 5367 electric Vauxhall vans were registered in the year to June 2024. Stellantis also say they sold 34632 vans in total in the UK. Although the periods overlap, this would imply an electric ratio of about 15%, well above this year’s LEV mandate of 10%:
On the face of it then, Vauxhall won’t have to pay any fines. However the real problem seems to be that the mandate will rapidly rise from next year.
It would appear that Vauxhall don’t believe they can hit these targets going forward, and it is easy to see why. Across the market as a whole, electric vans have only penetrated 5.6% this year, even less than last:
https://www.smmt.co.uk/vehicle-data/lcv-registrations/
And why, other than a few niche applications, would any business buy one?
The Vivaro Diesel as an OTR price of £35010, but the electric is priced at £51715.
Most vans tend to do high mileage, so after three or four years, the electric will be worthless on the second hand market, unlike the diesel which will probably be worth a grand or two:
The electric has a claimed range of 215 miles, but in the real world, with a full load, will probably struggle to do 100 miles. This immediately rules it out for many businesses. I know our van at work would occasionally do more than that in a day. Its typical run was around South Yorkshire, and that could easily entail at least 70 or 80 miles.
An electric van will simple not have the same productivity as a diesel for most applications. In short, while a diesel might do 100 drops a day, and electric might only manage 50. You would therefore need twice as many vans and drivers!
Then there is the issue of where and how you recharge overnight.
When all things are considered, businesses know what is best for them. And so far they have made it clear that they won’t buy electric.
Which brings us back to Vauxhall.
To meet a target of 46% electric in four years time, they must either sell a lot more electric vans, or sell fewer diesel.
And if they sell fewer diesels, that leaves Luton, which makes all the diesel Vivaros, without enough work to be viable. Ellesmere Port, which only makes electric, will take over Luton’s existing electric van work.
The ultimate irony here is that imports of vans and cars are not subject to the ZEV mandate. So Stellantis can instead push French made Citroen vans into the UK market and avoid fines.
As the Vauxhall blurb notes, they are the only van brand made in the UK. Luton’s departure from the scene will simply open the door to vans like the Ford Transit, which is made in Spain and Turkey.
And I can confidently predict that next year, electric van sales will still be in the doldrums, despite Ed Miliband’s crazed policies.
FOOTNOTE
Ford have a range calculator for the Transit, which reduces range to just 91 miles in cold conditions:
