End of diesel, limits of electric: the sale of utilities falls

The so popular Renault Kangoo or Citroën Berlingo vans, Renault Trafic or Master vans, Peugeot Expert, are not doing well. Without the quality or the recognized services of these familiar vehicles having much to do with it. The market for new utility vehicles is collapsing twice as fast as that for new cars. It fell in France by 20% in May (-11% for cars). Over five months, it fell by 25% (against -17% for passenger cars). Renault saw its registrations of vans and vans collapse by 40% in France (between January and May), i.e. 2.5 times more than those of its cars, Stellantis by 21%.

On the whole of Europe, it is not better. Utilities tumbled 24% (over four months). There too, it is much worse than for cars, whose registrations fell by 14.5% on the Old Continent for the same period. The order barometer, which foreshadows registrations for the coming months, confirms the bitter observation. Last May, orders for commercial vehicles plummeted by 40% in France, while the order book for cars only crumbled by 3.5%. Small consolation: the only segment of electric utilities is progressing, but its market share remains derisory (4% of total registrations). Indeed, utilities remain overwhelmingly driven by engines… diesel.

A wait-and-see attitude

But why this general collapse in utility sales and orders? Certainly, the shortage of semi-components which slows down production plays its part. And manufacturers prefer to focus on manufacturing cars rather than vans. It prevents. Explanation is not enough. “I no longer order vehicles, I extend the life of my fleet. There are too many uncertainties about diesel and electric can only be used on short routes”, explains the boss of an SME services in the Paris region. A wait-and-see attitude is in order, while Paris in particular should ban the circulation of diesels in 2024.

“Access to city centers is becoming an issue in many cities. The deployment of sustainable urban policies, such as low-emission zones for urban areas of more than 150,000 inhabitants listed in the Climate and Resilience Law, potentially translates into measures restrictive for our activity”, points out Emmanuel Déchin, director general of the Trade Union Chamber of Pharmaceutical Distributors (CSRP), which delivers drugs to pharmacies. “And it is not so easy to obtain exemptions from local authorities!”. It is indeed easier and politically profitable for the municipalities to celebrate the bicycle for possible home deliveries over the last kilometer than to think about the overall routing of the goods from the producer or the wholesaler to the retailer, necessarily by truck or utility.

Limits with electrics

As for the electric, it is in its infancy in the utilities. “Their use is easier for La Poste with small dedicated routes and a return to the depot than for Orange with technicians who do not return to the depot”, explains an electrical specialist from TotalEnergies. “A Kangoo ZE (second generation) has a real range of 50 kilometers, with a problem of rapid technical obsolescence of vehicles,” adds an Enedis electric mobility manager. “There is the crucial problem of the lifespan of the batteries, the performance of which degrades over time”, we add to TotalEnergies.

The performance of electrics is indeed questionable. Even though “80% of trips (for vans) are less than 200 kilometers with an average journey of 72 kilometers”, argues Sébastien Moraux, head of the Stellantis light utility project. During a recent Peugeot e Traveler test (minibus version of the Expert van), Challenges had noted a huge consumption of 43 kWh / 100 km on the highway. More than double that of a Tesla Model Y SUV. Suddenly, the autonomy is hardly famous: 160 km at the very maximum on highway with the big battery. With the small one, the result becomes downright ridiculous, with barely 100 km on the highway. On such a course, the charge costs more than 25 euros per 100 km (with the large battery), if you drink from Fastened, which charges per kWh (0.59 euro). Even in these times of expensive fuels, it is still much more economical to run on diesel.

Tricolor dominance

And it took us… three-quarters of an hour to go from 10% to 80% charge, 1h10 min for a full tank, on an extremely rare Ionity fast charging station. The recharge time is 5 hours on a Wall Box of 114 kW, 7 hours 30 on a Wall Box of 74 kW…. And 15 hours on a domestic socket for a Peugeot Partner van. In addition, electric ones remain significantly more expensive. The price of the Peugeot Partner starts at 21,300 euros (excluding taxes) in gasoline, 22,300 in diesel and… 32,700 in electric. Between the scheduled end of diesel and the limits of electric, it is logical that fleets hesitate and prudently prefer to wait… before placing an order.

A dirty trick for French manufacturers, whose utilities are a historical specialty. They hold 52% of the tricolor utility market (excluding Stellantis utilities from the Fiat range). For vans alone, this is a huge cake in Europe with an average of half a million units per year (before the pandemic), very lucrative because the vehicles are relatively simple and the series very long. Finally replaced last year, isn’t the Kangoo II fourteen years old? A very good deal for the Stellantis group resulting from the merger of PSA and Fiat Chrysler, which sells more than half of light commercial vehicles in Europe. But also for the Renault group which holds a little less than 20% of the niche there.