As a result of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, more and more things are being delivered to us at home, online food shopping, essential items, clothes and even cars are being delivered to us now. This rapid increase in deliveries has caused some concern about road congestion, the impact of burning fuel and what that means for air quality in cities. LeasePlan has conduced some research to look into this and what members of the UK public are doing for online shopping.

LeasePlan commissioned the research which surveyed 5,000 drivers in 22 different countries, and 253 of them were here in the UK. People who responded to the survey said that as a result of the pandemic 44% of them are more likely to use online shopping and then choose home delivery and this has increased the need for more vehicles to be bought leased by delivery companies.

Half of the people who responded said in the research that they are worried about increased congestion and pollution from delivery vehicles during the pandemic as well as what comes after for everyone. Interestingly, LeasePlan also spoke to delivery drivers and they said that they would be up for switching to electric vans or trucks to help reduce the air pollution, out of the 5,000 drivers surveyed 75% said that they would be up for switching to EV vehicles.

More and more car companies are starting to make fully electric vans and smaller vans, Vauxhall, Citroen and Peugeot all have electric vans on the market and earlier this month, Citroën launched the e-Berlingo, a small dispatch van with 171 miles of range.

“But this demand has to be met responsibly, and concerns about congestion and pollution from delivery vehicles need to be addressed. The good news is that OEMs are making more electric delivery vehicles than ever before, so in 2021 there’s no excuse not to swap the white van for a green van and make each and every delivery zero-emission.”

Mark Lovett – Head of Commercial Vehicles, LeasePlan UK

With the deadline of 2030 not that far away now, the next step is the commercial sector, with buses, larger trucks and vans needing to be made fully electric too, it is promising to see a large portion of drivers willing to make the necessary steps to improve the environment.

Notes

The LeasePlan survey is conducted across 22 countries, including: Australia, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom and the United States.

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