Suitability of commercial transport for a shift to electric mobility with Denmark and Germany as use cases

Both Denmark and Germany have incentives to promote the use of electric vehicles. Nevertheless, electric vehicles do generally not show economic benefits unless travel distance is high. However, today the travel range of large vans is an important barrier for electrification due to battery weight and the limitation of 3.5 tonnes gross vehicle weight for driving with a normal driving licence. The rule needs amendments for electric vehicles, as has been done in Germany. The paper recommends EU countries follow the German rule allowing EVs up to 4.25 tonnes to be driven with a class B licence, thereby potentially creating a market for big vans with long travel range.