Industry body calls on better 12v battery tech for electric vans

The Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP) in the UK has called for vehicle manufacturers to improve 12 volt battery technology on electric vans, as it claims that many of its member’s eLCVS remain “unuseable” due to “bricking issues”.

According to APF chair Paul Hollick, many fleets are still being left in a position where their vans become unuseable and have to be towed to a dealership to be restarted.

“The fundamental problem here is that when an electric van is left unused for a couple of weeks, the 12v battery charges down and it becomes impossible to start or recharge the vehicle. There is no choice but to return it to the franchise dealer and even then, it can often take weeks to resolve the problem,” he said.

“We’re even hearing from members who are having electric vans delivered in this state and having to reject them immediately, which is completely unacceptable. It’s unavoidably having an impact on the appetite of some fleets to electrify their vans.

“The handful of manufacturers involved – and this affects several models – have been quite different in their responses with some being faster to work towards a solution than others.”

He added that fleets are having to improvise solutions, with some investing in solar panels to trickle charge the 12v battery.

Hollick said the immediate solution that appeared to be most commonly suggested by manufacturers was revised software that would preserve the 12v battery for longer.

“Some manufacturers are telling us that the new software is in progress and could be here in a matter of weeks or months, while others are much vaguer. The latter aren’t winning many friends among fleet operators,” he claimed.