Manufacturers have been accused of exploiting EV transition to maximise profits and reneging on contract agreements at the last minute by fleet decision-makers at the Fleet200 Strategy Network meeting in September.

“My company has more than 300 cars, more than 500 vans, 50 trucks and 200 mopeds. Each one presents a decarbonisation challenge and the frustration I have is trying to assess the total cost of ownership for each. It’s changing every day, cost consistency is impossible. We were looking at taking on an EV removal truck. It would’ve been a game-changer, but our costs on it have increased three-fold.”

“It’s very well having a green vision for the future of transport, but unless manufacturers are incentivised to play their part, we won’t collectively be able to achieve it.”

“I see a similarity to the truck cartel that was exposed several years ago*, with manufacturers creating a monopoly on pricing opportunity. Their approach is not to save the planet, but ‘how much money we can make’ on the back of government telling us we need to change to EVs.