The plug-in van grant – all you need to know

This month, it was announced that the government plans to further encourage the adoption of electric vans (EVs) by UK fleets by extending the plug-in van grant that it has been offering in one form or another since 2012.

The grant, previously extended to March 2026 back in April, will now be further stretched by another 12 months until at least the end of the 2026-27 financial year. This is seen across the industry as a necessary measure as businesses continue to hesitate over switching to EVs.

While sales of EVs are rising, up more than 70% in July, they still only account for less than 10% of the overall van market. This is well below the 16% the government wants to see by the end of 2025 under its zero-emissions vehicle (ZEV) mandate.

But what is the plug-in van grant, and what kind of potential savings does it offer an LCV operator?

Under the current criteria, buyers are given discounts of up to 35% on the cost of a new van – in monetary terms a maximum of £2,500 for small (under 2.5 tonne) electric vans or £5,000 for larger vans of up to 4.25 tonnes. There is also a truck version of the scheme, offering £16,000 off the cost of small trucks and £25,000 for large trucks.

While confirming the extension to the grant, the government is (at time of writing) yet to announce what the discount levels will be in the 2026-27 financial year, so the rates above only currently apply to orders placed before the end of March 2026. This is important because before 2021 the discounts available were more substantial – £3,000 for small vans and £6,000 for larger vehicles.

A business buying an electric van does not have to spend time making an application to claim the grant – manufacturers have had to apply to have their vehicles declared eligible and the discount should be routinely added by the dealer at the point of sale.

Looking at the scheme in more detail, to be eligible for the up to £2,500 available for small van purchases, the vehicle’s gross vehicle weight (GVT) must be less than 2.5 tonnes, while it must produce CO₂ emissions of less than 50g/km and be able to travel at least 50 miles on purely electric power.

Purchasers of larger vans have up to a £5,000 discount available so long as the vehicle’s GVT is between 2.5 and 4.25 tonnes and, like the smaller vans, it produces CO₂ emissions of less than 50g/km and can travel at least 60 miles on electric power only.

The CO₂ emissions figure is an important element – the grant is not just for purchases of completely electric vans, but covers plug-in hybrid vehicles too, so long as they meet the emissions and mileage criteria. Plug-in hybrids are potentially attractive to fleets as they don’t have the potential range anxiety of a full EV, but unlike the car market there are currently very few plug-in hybrid vans available, Ford’s Transit Connect being the best known.

Eligible vans meeting the discount criteria are listed on the Government website and the selection is extensive.

Vans currently eligible for the plug-in vehicle grant

As of August 2025, the following vehicles are eligible for the government’s plug-in vehicle grant:

Small vans

Large vans

(Source: HM Government)

The plug-in grant is a rare positive measure for the heaviest electric vans, which due to the weight of their batteries tip the scales at more than 4.25 tonnes and have attracted controversy by being classified as small trucks. While relevant to very few vans, the scheme follows this criteria which means vehicles such as some versions of the Iveco eDaily could attract discounts of up to £16,000.

Note that it is worth regularly checking the government’s listing as new vehicles could be added – the current listing, for example, does not include the newly-launched Farizon SV electric van.

It is also prudent for a van operator to study the list carefully before choosing a vehicle to buy – the plug-in hybrid version of the Ford Transit Connect, for example, is eligible for only a £2,500 discount in short-wheelbase form while its long-wheelbase sibling attracts up to £5,000 off – more than the difference in price between the two models. Similarly, versions of the Maxus eDeliver 3 sit in both categories. 

There are limits to the number of grants an individual business can claim each year, although it’s only relevant to the largest operators as it’s currently set at a maximum of 1,500 grants per financial year. The total can be a mixture of van and truck grants, though there are further restrictions on the number of grants made to trucks.

Charge point discounts

Other grants have also been made available to encourage businesses to switch to electric, particularly in an effort to reduce the cost of installing charging points at vehicle depots.

The depot charging scheme, launched in July, is aimed at van, truck and coach fleets and offers to fund up to 75% of the cost of installing EV charge points at an operator’s depot – with an upper limit of £1 million across all an operator’s sites.

However, taking advantage of this will require rapid action as both the funding and the eligibility window are limited. The claims window opens on 1^st September and the installation work must be completed by 31st March 2026.

The scheme will close on 28^th November 2025 or sooner if the funding is exhausted – the government has allocated only £30 million to fund the scheme so, in theory, it could be exhausted by just 30 businesses claiming the maximum grant.

Details of the depot charging scheme are available here.

In summary, if your business has accepted it will need to switch to electric in due course, study what’s available in the form of grants carefully and make use of them, while they are still available. 

Read more:

• Licence break confirmed for heavy electric vans
• Double cab pick-up tax changes – how much will you pay?
• The pros and cons of electric vans