My current office is next to a delivery company running small vans.

And looking at their operation, the question is actually not that complicated:

Could they switch a large part of that fleet to electric?

Yes, they probably could.

Urban routes.

Predictable usage.

Vehicles back every day.

Interestingly, this broader fleet logic also came up recently at SZGipfel: companies are still asking for road-trip range, while many vehicles in reality cover far less in daily use.

We have already seen that this can work.

Bäckerei - Konditorei Schüren GmbH is one example. They even went as far as building their own Ladepark around the operation.

So technically, this is not the hard part anymore.

The more interesting question is:

Why would they do it?

And I think there are still two very practical reasons why many operators hesitate.

1. Purchase cost is still too high.

For many small operators, the vehicle is not an abstract TCO exercise. It is a monthly cash burden.

And electric LCVs are still often too expensive upfront, even where the operating case already starts to make sense.

2. Charging still looks like an operational headache.

Not because charging is impossible.

But because nobody wants to deal with the hassle:

installing infrastructure

managing access

making sure vehicles are charged

making drivers think about charging at all

That is the real issue.

Not “Can it be electrified?”

But:

Can it be electrified without creating friction in the daily business?

Because fleet operators do not buy technology.

They buy reliability.

And if electrification comes with too much complexity, even a good product will be rejected.

That is why I think the next big question is not only the van itself.

It is the operating model around it.

And that is also why I find the Chinese examples interesting: not because they prove that everything is solved, but because they show that charging can be made part of daily operations once fast charging is available in inner cities.

What still matters more today for small LCV fleets: purchase price or charging simplicity?

And what would have to change first for operators to switch without hesitation?