As we head into the summer Parliamentary recess, a series of major government commitments to boost the UK’s EV transition in the past week have potentially significant benefits for the commercial vehicle sector. These include the new £63 million boost for EV charging infrastructure, more than half of which will be made available for van, truck, coach and ambulance depots and the reminder for cross-pavement gullies, which could help encourage more LCV fleets and sole traders to consider going electric.
Whereas HGVs usually operate from a central base, LCVs are more flexible and can be parked at work, at a depot, or even outside the driver’s home. Some companies are already covering the cost of home charging for their drivers but it’s hard to access for many motorists – around one in three not having a home driveway – so the £25 million allocated to cross-pavement charging could really help.
A total of £30 million, meanwhile, has been committed to the Depot Charging Scheme (DCS), which just opened for applications and runs until 28 November, for businesses to upgrade their bases – a major barrier given the additional upfront cost on top of new vehicle purchases. It is a welcome step to accelerate ebbing zero emission uptake, with companies able to claim up to 75% of the cost of chargers and installation with a cap of £1 million per business.
Grid connections remain a challenge, however, especially for HGV operators with some expecting to wait up to 14 years for their upgrades to go live. SMMT has highlighted the need to fast-track the approval process for these depots, which can make a sizeable contribution to decarbonisation if they have the same planning priority that has been afforded to data centres and solar farms.
Manufacturers currently offer more than 70 different zero emission vans and trucks in the UK so a massive range of choice is available to operators, and the Commercial Vehicle Show 2026 will once again welcome very latest models and product launches. Now, however, buses and coaches will be added to the line-up – with organiser Nineteen Group having announced the new Bus & Coach Expo will take place as part of the CV Show next April. SMMT members benefit from a 15% discount on their stand.
By bringing together operators, manufacturers, technology suppliers and policymakers, the combined events offer unique opportunities for cross-sector collaboration, which we need to see more of given the many shared solutions for decarbonising light and heavy vehicles.
