Introduction
As electric vehicle (EV) uptake increases across the UK, fleet operators are under growing pressure to keep daily operations consistent while adjusting long-term cost structures and infrastructure use. The role of a well-integrated fleet and fuel management system becomes increasingly important in making this transition work in practice. From managing fuelling strategies to planning for wear and tear and ensuring the right vehicles are procured, the operational pressure points across the system are starting to shift. Yet, rather than replacing one set of problems with another, businesses are expected to find practical methods to keep vehicles moving and assets accounted for.
Recent shifts in the UK’s light commercial vehicle (LCV) market offer insight into these tensions. As published by Fleet News, the LCV market has seen its seventh consecutive monthly decline, with registrations falling by 5.2% in June 2024. The report also highlights a 14.7% drop in demand for battery-electric vans. While EV intentions remain part of many long-term sustainability plans, the reality on the ground points to a more cautious or fragmented transition. These changes are not happening in isolation. Shifts in policy, insurance pricing and maintenance expectations are all shaping how businesses approach their EV charging strategy and broader operational frameworks.
Infrastructure Plans vs Operational Reality
New infrastructure investments are often presented as indicators of EV readiness. National Grid Electricity Distribution (NGED) recently announced a £13 million investment to upgrade substations and expand capacity for EV charging across the South West and South Wales. While this type of project supports large-scale energy transition, it is not always matched by immediate improvements on the ground.
Fleet managers must often weigh these long-term developments against short-term planning needs. Charging hubs might be planned, but until they are operational, vehicles still need reliable fuelling, maintenance and servicing. A fleet and fuel management system provides the structure for dealing with these day-to-day requirements while also planning for infrastructure changes that may not align with immediate operational demands. Monitoring energy use, vehicle performance and maintenance status across all assets helps avoid assumptions about what infrastructure will be ready and when.
This disconnect between announcement and availability can also affect procurement. Businesses are hesitant to invest in electric LCVs while infrastructure is still uncertain and may instead focus on maintaining existing assets. A structured fuel management strategy ensures traditional vehicles remain accountable, particularly where company drivers or field staff may operate in rural areas or environments where EV infrastructure is inconsistent.
Wear, Usage and the Condition of Existing Assets
Keeping traditional vehicles on the road means understanding the effects of wear and tear. The British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA) has recently updated its wear and tear guidelines for LCVs, as published by Fleet News. These updates reflect a recognition that light vans and commercial vehicles experience higher impact use than standard passenger cars, particularly in stop-start or multi-drop environments.
The BVRLA guidance includes clarity on acceptable damage and recommends improved record-keeping by fleet operators. A fleet and fuel management system helps automate this by integrating condition reports, inspection intervals and service records into one platform. This is particularly important for fleets balancing mixed vehicle types or managing assets across multiple sites.
Vans that are incorrectly reported or infrequently inspected tend to stay in circulation longer than advisable, which increases costs and emissions over time. If a fleet includes older diesel models or vehicles with inconsistent maintenance histories, emissions data becomes harder to track and performance less predictable. In the absence of a clear EV charging strategy, keeping these vehicles efficient and well-maintained becomes the operational focus, making reliable management systems a necessity rather than an option.
Insurance and Operational Risk
Cost management doesn’t stop at fuelling and maintenance. Insurance premiums play a role in long-term planning, particularly when transitioning between fuel types. As published by Van Fleet World, van insurance premiums have dropped by 4.7% year-on-year. This drop is partially due to insurers correcting previous overpricing and more stable claims data. However, while this reduction is welcome, it does not reduce risk by default.
The same report notes that premiums for electric vans still sit above those for petrol and diesel equivalents. Reasons include higher repair costs, parts availability and limited technician training in some regions. In this context, a fleet and fuel management system that tracks vehicle usage, service history and mileage can help determine which vehicles are more likely to trigger high-cost incidents or fall outside warranty protections. Linking fuel spend and incident data also reveals patterns that can inform procurement decisions.
As fleets test new models or deploy small-scale EV trials, insurance records and fuel logs become essential data points. Combined with servicing updates and incident records, these inputs contribute to broader fleet reviews that influence charging and fuel strategies over time.
Connecting Strategy to Operational Reality
Building a reliable EV charging strategy doesn’t start with infrastructure investment alone. It begins with understanding how the current fleet operates, where fuelling or charging happens, and how maintenance is managed. The Department for Transport (DfT), in partnership with industry bodies, recently introduced a dedicated delivery team to focus on national charging site coordination, as published by Fleet News. The team’s objective is to ensure that EV infrastructure programmes better reflect the needs of logistics and fleet users.
While this is a positive step, coordination between government-led infrastructure plans and actual fleet behaviour often lags. Data collected from fuel cards, telematics and service logs are more reflective of real-world requirements than policy schedules. Integrating this data into a fleet and fuel management system offers a practical view into where infrastructure spending might matter most. Instead of working from assumptions, fleets can align infrastructure advocacy or planning with historical performance and real-world trends.
For example, if an LCV fleet has recurring charging issues in specific locations, this data becomes useful evidence for infrastructure providers. It also allows internal planning to adjust deployment strategies or rotate assets between locations depending on charging availability and job schedules.
Balancing Investment with Usage
LCV sales and replacements remain a key part of cost planning. As reported by Fleet News, consistent decline in new LCV sales reflects an operational mindset focused on prolonging existing assets rather than introducing new ones. While environmental concerns influence public sentiment and policy, operational decisions are shaped more by cost consistency, asset availability and infrastructure predictability.
That means businesses must make better use of what they already have. A fleet and fuel management system supports this by tracking servicing needs, matching vehicle capability to task types and informing procurement decisions with historical data. Linking this data with fuel management tools also helps predict cost implications more accurately when fuel prices fluctuate or vehicle usage patterns shift.
This balanced view prevents overinvestment in infrastructure or vehicles that don’t reflect the current rhythm of business. It also avoids underinvestment in systems that improve tracking and maintenance visibility systems that can be the difference between reactive and planned servicing.
Funding and Forward Planning
Anticipating, as published by Fleet News, the UK government’s recent £2.5 billion package to support EV manufacturing reinforces the longer-term direction of fleet operations. However, while production incentives shape future availability, short-term planning still depends on current fleet visibility. Understanding what vehicles are in use, how they are maintained and how fuelling is recorded remains central to bridging short-term needs with longer-term transitions.
Systems that combine fuel and charging data, service intervals and usage frequency can help assess whether future procurement should shift towards electric models, hybrids or newer diesel units. These aren’t decisions made from a sustainability report, they’re drawn from patterns that show what the fleet actually needs day to day.
Review Based on Operational Patterns
Fleet sustainability requires examining operational habits, not just environmental metrics. It involves looking at how often vehicles are serviced, where fuelling delays occur and which vehicles sit idle longer than expected. A fleet and fuel management system helps surface this information, showing patterns that are easy to overlook when systems are fragmented or manually updated.
With LCV insurance premiums falling but electric van pricing still inconsistent, fuel usage records can also signal when total cost of ownership might favour one model type over another. Decisions are less risky when based on actual job volume, route types and usage hours.
Practical Review and Insight
If internal reviews suggest discrepancies between intended and actual fuel usage, or gaps in maintenance record-keeping, it may be time to centralise how these processes are managed. Telematics alone do not offer a complete picture unless paired with fuelling and service records. This is where the structure of a fleet and fuel management system helps build that consolidated view.
Rather than relying on spreadsheets or fragmented software, operational teams benefit from shared access to real-world performance and cost information. This builds accountability across the fleet and provides a more practical baseline for infrastructure or procurement changes.
Where to Begin
Start with a review of what is known - fuelling locations, energy costs, service intervals and downtime. These data points reveal where gaps may exist or where repeated inefficiencies affect larger decisions. While infrastructure planning and procurement decisions often attract board-level attention, it is the day-to-day visibility into fleet behaviour that shapes long-term sustainability.
Schedule a demo to explore how detailed fuel, service and usage data can help you refine your EV charging strategy and strengthen overall fleet and fuel management system performance.