IET calls on government to meet energy gap
The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), is urging the government and industry to engage in robust discussions on the UK’s emerging energy needs. The call comes as electric vehicle adoption is rising, and is set to continue.
With road transport currently accounting for 22% of the UK’s CO2 emissions, reducing the UK’s reliance on carbon based fuels is a priority.
Dr. Tony Whitehead, Director of Policy at the IET, said: “Government and industry are driving adoption of low carbon transportation, which is a huge step in the right direction. However, discussions on the electric power generation capability are vital if the UK is to meet the new environmentally friendly behaviours that are being encouraged.”
In fact, over the next few years, corporations and governments will be focusing on improving the efficiency of their vehicle fleets.
That's according to Pike Research, who go on to say that while traditional hybrid electric vehicles will continue to play an important role, the twin goals of reducing lifetime operating expenses as well as lowering emissions from their vehicles means that fleet managers will increasingly turn to plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) as a solution.
The report from Pike Research forecasts that between 2010 and 2015, more than 1.3 million PEVs will be purchased for use in fleet operations, with nearly 400,000 vehicles being sold annually by the end of the forecast period.
“Plug-in electric vehicles are primarily known for their consumer applications, but they will play a greater and greater role in fleets as well,” says Senior Analyst Dave Hurst. “Fleet managers will be drawn to the fuel efficiency benefits of PEVs in many cases to satisfy requirements to reduce overall fleet emissions. Tax incentives are also a powerful motivator to some fleet operators, though others will not factor this into the equation either because they do not qualify or because the tax incentive is not put back into their budget.”
Hurst adds that carmakers will look to the fleet markets in these early years of PEV sales to help bolster production and reduce overall vehicle costs. As a result, passenger cars will be the leading segment in the PEV fleet market over the next five years, representing more than 80% of total sales in 2015. Small SUVs will also be an important segment, though their adoption is expected to significantly lag behind passenger cars. Early adopters for fleet PEVs will include operations that have local, predictable routes such as delivery vehicles and taxis. Hurst anticipates that many fleet operators will maintain their own EV charging stations and thus will be relatively insensitive to range and charging infrastructure concerns.
Pike Research’s study, ‘Hybrid Electric Vehicles for Fleet Markets’, analyses the opportunities and challenges for light-duty HEVs, PHEVs, and BEVs in commercial fleet markets around the world. The study examines global growth drivers and business case considerations for fleet managers, and includes detailed market forecasts, segmented by world regions and key countries, as well as profiles for key industry players.
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