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UK gets green bus boost but van fleets need support

10 October 2024 #Uncategorised

Last week, SMMT published its latest data for the new light commercial vehicle (LCV) market, with almost 43,500 new vans joining UK roads in a bumper “new plate” September. There was rising uptake for van of all sizes so, despite a drop in 4×4 and pickup demand – compared with very popular demand for them last year – 2024 has brought the best September for four years.

In further positive news, it was a big month for deliveries of larger battery electric vans (BEVs), those weighing from 3.5 to 4.25 tonnes, which grew more than threefold to represent 1.4% of the market. But growth cannot be said for the majority of the BEV market, with registrations of those weighing up to 3.5 tonnes falling by -0.5%, making September the sixth monthly drop across 2024. With just under 14,200 new BEVs registered since the start of January, that’s -7.7% below the same period last year.

Industry has made gigantic strides to deliver net zero with manufacturer investment bringing more than 30 different BEV models to market in the UK, which are suited to many different needs of UK businesses. Yet these greenest vans make up just 5.3% of all new LCVs registered during 2024, just over half the 10% required this year by the Vehicle Emission Trading Scheme, so new government’s first budget at the end of the month must consider immediate encouragement for fleets to decarbonise.

SMMT made clear in our open letter to the Chancellor last week that maintaining the Plug-in Van Grant beyond 2025 is a key first step, but must be followed with further measures. These should include equalising VAT on public charging to match the 5% private charging rate, and mandating public infrastructure rollout – which must including provision for the additional size and power requirements of zero emission vans.

One sector leading from the front is bus operators, and this week there was a boost for decarbonisation as well as manufacturing with Go-Ahead announcing a £500 million investment to roll out UK-made buses. It is a really exciting step in the UK’s long and proud history of bus and coach manufacturing, and we’re looking forward to finding out more about government’s plans for a new UK Bus Manufacturing Expert Panel. Major bus operator investment is very important but as SMMT set out in our latest report on decarbonising the bus sector, a plan is needed for all local transport operators to switch, especially smaller and more rural operators.

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