What You Need to Know About Eco-Friendly Commercial Vehicles

Commercial vehicles facilitate the everyday functioning of our economy, where they are used to transport workers, goods and equipment across the country on a daily basis. These vehicles help to support a range of essential industries, including construction and courier services, where it is important that every business is equipped with the best vehicles for the job.

As such, you should think carefully about specific industry requirements when choosing your next commercial vehicle, where each model will be designed with various functions in mind. Whether your priority is payload, driving comfort or dashboard technology, there will be an ideal vehicle for your business requirements.

Amidst today’s climate emergency, you may find that a key priority for your commercial vehicle is how eco-friendly it is. Considering energy efficiency ratings and the environmental impact of your fuel choice can ensure that your business is putting its greenest foot forward. 

Read on for an in-depth look at eco-friendly commercial vehicles, with an insight into how switching to electric could benefit you and your business.

Why Choose A Sustainable Vehicle

Choosing a sustainable vehicle today is a great way to take on board responsibility for your individual carbon footprint whilst working towards an eco-friendly identity for your business. Today’s climate emergency means that we should all be considering our everyday fossil fuel consumption, where petrol and diesel engines release harmful greenhouse gases into our atmosphere that widely contribute to global warming.

More and more cities are also introducing clean air zones as a way to curb emissions in heavily populated areas. Clean air zones require high emission vehicles to pay a small charge to use central routes, where this is designed to encourage investment in greener transport alternatives whilst reducing congestion. 

Choosing to take a bus or cycle  instead of using a motorised vehicle can help you to manage your carbon footprint. These eco-friendly alternatives help to reduce road emissions whilst saving you money on your transport costs. Driving an electric vehicle can also help with this, where pure electric models are exempt from congestion charges.                                                                                                                                                                                                                              

Benefits Of Electric Vehicles

If you’d like to invest in an eco-friendly transport alternative, then electric vehicles may be the way to go. There are numerous benefits to be enjoyed, both for you and the environment, where these include:

Fuel Efficiency

An electric vehicle is designed to be more energy efficient than a conventional petrol or diesel motor. This is because these motors convert electrical energy directly into movement, whilst fuel is converted into heat energy through combustion before it can be used for movement.

In addition to this, electric vehicles are also efficient when it comes to costs. Although electric alternatives may be more expensive to purchase than a traditional car or van, over time you will save on running costs. On average, charging an electric car overnight from a flat battery will cost around £8.35, whilst it will cost you around £22 of diesel to cover a 100 mile journey. Savings will continue beyond this if your van is a commercial vehicle, where you may be able to write off charging costs as a business expense. 

Electric Vehicle Grants

If you choose to invest in an electric vehicle, you can also reap the benefits of government grants when you make your purchase. Small electric vans could have 35% of their cost covered up to £2500, whilst for larger vans your grant could be up to £5000. Companies could also receive additional funding for commercial plug in vehicles.

Charger Accessibility

Most drivers making the switch to electric will be concerned about accessing a reliable charging point. If you’re driving a commercial vehicle then you may be able to leave your van at your workplace overnight, where you can plug in to a company funded charging station. 

If you’re driving your vehicle home, then you can apply for a grant to fund your home charging station. In addition to this, you can also access over 12000 public charging points across the UK, where more are being installed every year. These can be located through your car’s inbuilt sat nav or through one of several mobile apps designed to help you to find your nearest charging station.

Choosing Your Commercial Vehicle

Investing in a new vehicle for your business is a big decision, where there are lots of different aspects to weigh up and consider. Some of these may include:

Payload – You will need to consider how much weight your vehicle will be able to transport, where it should be considered that electric vehicles often have a reduced payload due to the weight of their battery. Vans will have a legal limit on how much weight they can transport safely, where you need to ensure that your vehicle can get the job done within this limitation.

Driving Experience – Some commercial vans will provide a comfortable, car-like driving experience suitable for long distances, whereas other motors will be designed for practicality over comfort.

Dashboard Features – Most vehicles today come complete with a basic selection of dashboard technology, whilst additional driving features could be useful to appeal to your industry needs.

Fuel Efficiency – You will also want to consider the efficiency of your vehicle in order to make the best investment for your business, where you will want to think about  engine power and fuel economy. This translates to how far you can travel on one tank of fuel, or how far one charging session will last for an electric model.

Interior Storage – Depending on your specific industry needs, you may require comprehensive interior storage from your van, both in the cab area and the loading bay. Choose a vehicle that can fit a roof rack or interior shelving to make the most out of your space.

Engine Power – Another aspect of your vehicle that may be of interest to you is your van’s inner workings, where you may prefer a particularly powerful engine to help with the transportation of heavy loads. Some vans will come with different engine size options so you can adapt your vehicle’s insights to fit your specific requirements.

Eco-Friendly Commercial Vans From Vanaways

At Vanaways, we supply a broad selection of fuel efficient and electric vans, designed to help your business to become more sustainable. Some of our most popular options include:

The Fiat e-Ducato – This electric van features a variety of trim options and lots of storage in the cab area, as well as an impressive driving range.

The Toyota e-Proace – This vehicle option also provides a competitive driving range for an electric vehicle, in addition to a sizable payload and an impressive range of dashboard features. 

The Peugeot e-Boxer – Choose this electric van option for a quiet and fuel efficient driving experience, where you can also enjoy a dashboard touchscreen and plenty of interior storage.

The Ford e-Transit Tipper – An electric tipper allows you to enjoy plenty of storage space whilst still driving an eco-friendly model, where this edition comes with an impressively powerful engine.

Vanaways: Affordable Electric Van Finance & Commercial Fleet Management

We’re proud to offer an extensive range of electric vehicles to all our commercial customers, where we can help you to access government grants and charging points to make the switch even easier.

Alongside this, we can provide a broad variety of commercial van finance options to help you to secure your dream vehicle. Our finance plans include part exchange and lease contracts, where our expert teams are on-hand to advise you on which route is best for you and your business. 

Our team is qualified to offer an array of commercial van fleet management services, whether you’re looking to expand your vehicle range or downsize your business. We can advise on questions of insurance and industry specific adaptations, where you can also benefit from our multi-van purchase deals.

Many of our vans, both diesel and electric, come complete with a manufacturer’s warranty, roadside assistance and extended service intervals, where you can also benefit from free nationwide delivery. Get in touch with us today to find out more about our comprehensive range of vehicles.