Arval is assisting the decarbonization of UK car fleets through what it terms ‘nudge’ policies.

The nudge concept is a way of influencing behavior through a series of choices that push people towards certain outcomes.

According to the UK leasing provider, it is restricting access to replacement petrol and diesel cars and nudging drivers towards zero-emission vehicles.

What’s more, to speed up delivery times and overcome current industry-wide vehicle shortages, drivers are being offered a wider choice of vehicle brands than before.

“We are at a point in time where there is considerable demand for EVs from fleets who are working towards net zero targets," says Ben Edwards, Arval UK Consultant, "and also from their drivers who want to minimize their benefit-in-kind tax bill."

“However a potential barrier to adoption is that large numbers of fleets operate policies which are limited to specific manufacturers. This approach used to work well by concentrating buying power and simplifying choice lists, but really doesn’t offer drivers enough choice in the range of models which are available in the current EV market.

“What we have successfully been advising fleets to do is to keep manufacturer badge restrictions in place for petrol, diesel, and plug-in hybrid models, but open them up partially or completely when it comes to EVs—and this is something that has been working well.”

The issue has been particularly acute in the jobs-needs fleet sector. Whereas directors and senior staff have access to a broad range of premium brands, lower down the grade scale, vehicle selection is more limited.

Edwards continued: “By opening up choice lists, we are seeing some manufacturers make inroads into the fleet sector who have not necessarily been part of the core company car market in the past but are now able to provide strong EV models with comparatively good supply.”

He added that Arval UK’s advice on EVs and choice lists consciously followed a policy of making electrification as simple as possible for fleets.

“As a company, we’ve consciously adopted a core message that EV adoption is simple, showing that if you look at whole life costs, an electric car is not only practical from an operational point of view—saving your driver considerable amounts in tax—but it also makes sense for the organization, as whole life costs of EVs are often lower than a petrol or diesel equivalent. It’s all about making the electrification process both easy and effective.”