UK government commits extra funding to boost electric van and truck use

The UK government is committing an additional US$4.8 million (£4 million) to the Plug-In Van grant scheme, extending the eligibility to larger electric vehicles so that all vans and trucks meeting the necessary requirements are eligible as part of the drive to reduce carbon emissions from transport use. Businesses will now benefit from grants up to US$24,000 (£20,000) when switching their large trucks to electric vehicles, Business and Energy secretary Greg Clark announced during a 3 day visit to Japan w
October 24, 2016 Read time: 2 mins
The UK government is committing an additional US$4.8 million (£4 million) to the Plug-In Van grant scheme, extending the eligibility to larger electric vehicles so that all vans and trucks meeting the necessary requirements are eligible as part of the drive to reduce carbon emissions from transport use.

Businesses will now benefit from grants up to US$24,000 (£20,000) when switching their large trucks to electric vehicles, Business and Energy secretary Greg Clark announced during a 3 day visit to Japan where he is meeting Japanese automotive companies.

The Plug-In Van grant has been available to small commercial vehicles of up to 3.5 tonnes since 2012, but sales of new electric vans have remained limited.

Electric vans and trucks have significant air quality benefits, as they spend much of their time in towns and city centres and over 96 per cent of them are diesel-powered.

The Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV), a joint unit of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the 1837 Department for Transport, believes extending the scheme will stimulate demand for more electric vans and trucks, and consequently encourage new entrants into the electric van market.

UTC

Related Content

  • September 6, 2018
    UK fleet operators commit to taking diesel vans off roads
    In the UK, 16 public and private sector fleet operators are to invest £40m in a bid to deploy 2,400 electric vans by 2020. The operators – which include Tesco - point to a recent study, in which the health damage caused by pollution from diesel vans has been put at £2.2bn per annum to the UK National Health Service and to society. The newly-formed consortium – called the Clean Van Commitment – is backed by the Department for Transport and led by charity Global Action Plan and energy and services group Engi
    Read More
  • September 7, 2012
    UK government announces investment in electric and hybrid battery research
    The UK Government has announced an investment of £9 million (US$14.4 million) with a further £4 million (US$6.3 million) from industry into new Energy Storage R&D Centre which will work to accelerate the development of the next generation of batteries for electric and hybrid vehicles. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills hopes that the new £13 (US$20.7 million) million centre, which will be based at the University of Warwick, will help the UK to capitalise on the growing electric and hybrid ve
    Read More
  • November 23, 2017
    Autumn budget: EV charging infrastructure fund and higher tax rates for diesel vehicles
    Chancellor of the Exchequer Philip Hammond has announced a £400m ($532m) charging infrastructure fund for electric vehicles (EVs), an extra £100m ($133m) investment in Plug-In-Car Grant, and a £40m ($53m) in charging R&D in the UK’s Autumn Budget 2017. He added that laws need to be clarified so that motorists who charge their EVs at work will not face a benefit-in-kind charge from next year.
    Read More
  • July 28, 2017
    London’s mayor launches fund to help retire polluting diesel taxis
    In the latest in a series of measures to clean up London’s toxic air, the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and Transport for London (TfL) have launched a US£55 million (£42 million) fund to encourage the owners of the oldest, most polluting diesel black cabs to retire them from the Capital’s fleet. Taxis are a significant contributor to London’s toxic air quality, and are responsible for 16 per cent of NOx and 26 per cent of Particulate Matter (PM) road transport emissions in central London. From today, the own
    Read More

Highlighted Content