Sheffield furniture maker speaks out on costs after switching to electric van

Finbarr Lucas says that even with today’s high electricity prices he’s paying 12p per mile, compared to 25p for a diesel. His costs are in contrast to taxi driver Shaib Zaman who said he was paying more after switching to electric just as the council raised fees for its chargers from 30 to 72p per kWh. Finbarr said he plugged in at home and paid 30p per kWh.

He said he also found wear and tear was lower, due to fewer moving engine parts, and he doesn’t pay for the Clean Air Zone. Customers like it too, he claims. Finbarr has been making sustainable furniture for more than 20 years.

He said: “I recently called some of my old customers to find out how they felt about commissioning me, and the fact that I try to work sustainably came very high in their positive feedback – the van is a visible example they pick up on of me trying to do that as a business."

He added: “You get people with this bolted-on idea that they couldn’t live with a van that doesn’t do 500 miles without stopping, or they will have to spend forever charging. In reality that just hasn’t been the case for me.”

The call comes after Sheffield City Council announced a scheme that allows business owners to take borrow fully-insured electric vans on an eight-week trial for £200.