The Department for Transport is continuing its push for electric goods vehicles by funnelling £1bn of central funds into discounts of up to £81,000 for eHGVs, while subsidising the installation of chargepoints at vehicle depots.
The cash will be split across two discounting programmes: a Zero Emissions Truck and Van grant project, and the Depot Charging Scheme. Ministers say switching to electric will help “reduce exposure to fuel price uncertainty” for companies, while “cleaning up millions of journey miles”.
The truck and van grant will knock up to £81,000 off the cost of the heaviest electric rigs, with the lightest commercial vans getting £2,500 discounts.
The Depot Charging Scheme, meanwhile, will see £170m set aside to part-fund EV chargepoints at logistics and haulage depots.
The move comes ahead of new diesel trucks weighing up to 26 tonnes being banned from sale in 2035, with all HGVs following suit in 2040.
Aviation, maritime and decarbonisation Minister Keir Mather, said: the £1bn fund “cuts cost for British businesses, supports jobs, cleans up our roads, and gives operators protection against shifting global fuel prices”, adding that the logistics sector is “the backbone of the UK economy”, which the government is “helping to expand and decarbonise”.
In 2025, when similar grants were in place, 587 electric HGVS were sold out of a total of 40,504 units.
