88% of van fleets now want external help with electrification

Electric-van transition is increasingly becoming a supplier-management challenge as fleets seek specialist support to coordinate vehicles, charging and operational change.

The 2026 Arval Mobility Observatory Barometer found 88% of UK van fleets consider external supplier advice important when electrifying LCVs, up from 74% last year.

That does not mean fleets should outsource responsibility for their EV strategy.

Instead, managers should decide which expertise they genuinely need. This could include vehicle and route modelling, depot charging, energy procurement, reimbursement, funding or implementation support.

The key is maintaining one internal view of the desired outcome. Using several specialists without clear ownership can simply replace one electrification problem with another layer of complexity.

Fleet managers should therefore establish requirements first, then assess whether leasing companies, charging providers or independent specialists can fill genuine capability gaps.

The growth in demand for external expertise shows that electric vans are moving beyond vehicle procurement into a broader operational discipline.

For fleets, the most useful supplier is increasingly the one that can turn electrification plans into reliable day-to-day operations rather than simply provide the van.

Similar Stories

Back to blog