Wednesday 16 March 2022

Government extends grants for businesses to plug-in electric vans and trucks

The government has announced an extension to its plug-in van and truck grants for businesses as part of its drive to decarbonise transport faster.

The two-year extension to 2024/25 is expected to support the purchase of “tens of thousands” of greener vans and trucks and help make the UK less reliant on imports of foreign oil.

It will also help reduce emissions as nearly 5% of the country's carbon emissions currently come from vans.

Industry figures revealed the UK sold the highest number of plug-in electric vans in Europe last year and there were around four times as many grant applications compared to 2020.

The purchase of more than 26,000 electric vans and heavy goods vehicles have been supported since the launch of the scheme in 2012.

Transport Minister Trudy Harrison said:   “When it comes to clean business, this government means business. We are  backing a generation of green growth for our thriving fleet sector.

“As demand for electric vehicles continues to grow at speed, this extension to our grant scheme will allow tens of thousands more vans to be purchased, transporting goods in a way which is kinder to our environment.  This will support our vital, ongoing work to clean up our air in towns and cities right across the country and build back greener.”

The government has also announced it will continue to allow drivers holding standard car driving licences to drive electric goods vans at a higher weight limit of up to 4.25 tonnes, compared to a 3.5-tonne limit for diesel vans.

From 1st April 2022, the threshold to claim the small truck grant of up to £16,000 will be increased to 4.25 tonnes and vans up to 4.25 tonnes will be able to claim the large van grant of up to £5,000.