Ford: EV adoption by SMEs is a golden opportunity for a more productive and sustainable future

The recognition of electrification’s business value by small and medium enterprises (SMEs) has the potential to accelerate EV adoption and significantly benefit business productivity and the European economy. However, charging remains a concern.

These are the key findings from a report commissioned by Ford Pro: The Economics of Commercial Van Usage Across Europe 2024, published by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr).

The report estimates that van-related businesses contributed around €1 trillion across the EU and UK in 2023 – an increase of 6.5 per cent since 2021 and 27.4 per cent since 2017. On this basis, if van-powered businesses were an EU member state, they would be the sixth largest by GDP. In the EU, an estimated €14.1 billion (1.6 per cent) of that activity was supported by electric vans.

Ford Pro commissioned the report to better understand the broader European commercial van landscape, comprised of 23 million SMEs, including owner operators, which account for 99 per cent of businesses in Europe.

Initially, commercial electric vehicle adoption was believed to be led by larger businesses with fleet managers and corporate sustainability goals. Now, SMEs are increasingly adopting EVs as they recognise the significant business benefits. A survey of more than 1,000 commercial van drivers found that these businesses are already realising significant energy cost savings as well as improving their productivity and operations with supporting technology. Even non-EV adopters are looking at switching within 5 years, although charging remains a concern.

“We have been helping small businesses to build the economies of Europe for almost 60 years – but the greatest opportunity to improve their uptime and productivity lies ahead,” said Hans Schep (photo), general manager, Ford Pro, Europe. “Florists, plumbers, and bakers will play a leading role in taking EV adoption to the next level, and we will bring large fleet levels of charging, software and servicing support to these small businesses so they can electrify in the way that best makes sense for them.”