According to a survey commissioned by the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi LCV business, two thirds (66%) of small businesses predict their fleets will be fully electric within the next 20 years. Surprisingly the survey reveals about 50% expect the switch to happen in half that time. Find out more about Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi here.

The survey of 3,257 small business owners and decision makers globally found that almost all (93%) of business owners or decision-makers responsible for 50 vehicles or more consider environmental sustainability of high importance.

Other findings include:

• Connectivity will be key to success from a logistics perspective, according to a fifth of the business leaders surveyed
• 14% of business owners believe automation will play the biggest role in their future success
• 55% see their fleets becoming fully autonomous within the next 20 years (38% believe it to be within 10 years)
• 35% say business efficiency is their main motivation for adopting new technologies
• 21% say cost saving drives their decisions
• 14% highlight their desire to be more sustainable
• 18% of small business leaders say the sheer pace of the fast-moving world of e-commerce and the rising demand for deliveries is the biggest business challenge they face logistically
• 17% say their ability to keep up with regulation changes is the greatest challenge
• 12% highlight changing customer expectations for delivery times
• 40% of small businesses feel well set up for the increasing demands of e-commerce
• 30% believe they need smarter technology
• 11% state urban traffic and congestion as key concerns.

Manufacturers are dramatically increasing their efforts to respond to a growing customer need for sustainable vehicles, as businesses prepare for tighter emissions regulations and ways to address climate change.

“These results show that the electrification of fleets is increasingly on the minds of our customers – not just for the financial efficiencies that EVs can deliver, but because environmental sustainability is clearly crucial to the future of their businesses,” Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi LCV business senior vice-president Ashwani Gupta.

Groupe Renault has announced 100% of its vans will be electrified by 2022.

The Nissan e-NV200 small all-electric van production in 2018 was up by 50% compared to the previous year to reach 6000 units.

Mitsubishi offers the Minicab MiEV van in Japan as well as commercial versions of the Outlander PHEV in some global markets.

By 2022, the Alliance will launch 12 new zero-emission EVs, while 40 vehicles will be introduced with different levels of autonomy.

Source: http://evtalk.com.au/most-small-business-fleets-going-electric-survey/

28 Feb 2019