Electrification of the vehicle fleet

Our target for 2030 is an emission-free vehicle fleet. To achieve that target, from mid-2024 onwards, we aim to only order electric vehicles. Any new orders will have to comply with our target standards in the course of 2024, as the lifecycle of our vehicles often amounts to not more than 6 years.

The greatest challenge currently facing us is in the van category. At present, the choice of vehicles with a sufficient operating radius is limited. The problem lies in the combination of weight and operating radius. When required to deliver high power levels, battery performance is not at its optimum. The weight of a fully laden van cuts the operating radius, while it is specifically the van fleet that is required to cover considerable distances, in the Netherlands. Trials with a number of electric vans in 2023 confirmed that they could not yet offer the operating radius we need to provide our services. Nevertheless, we do expect the technology to advance rapidly, so we intend to stick to the principle of an emission-free vehicle fleet by 2030.

For our regular vehicle fleet, we are already a step further. In 2023, 16% of all lease cars were electric. The target for 2024 is 35%, for 2025 50% and in subsequent years, each year a step further. The pace of electrification in 2023 was not what we had hoped, due to long delivery times. There was a shortage of vehicles on the market, but we are currently making up the backlog, and barring unforeseen circumstances, we expect to be able to once again pick up the pace and stay on schedule for an emission-free vehicle fleet by 2030.