What grants are available for electric vans?

What grants are available for electric vans?

If you’re looking to transition your business from petrol or diesel vans to electric, you’ve probably eyed up the price and winced.

Electric tech still costs more upfront than its counterpart combustion parts – though you can save money across the whole life cost of an electric van lease – which is why the government has kept the Plug-In Van Grant (PIVG) scheme, even after scrapping the equivalent scheme for cars last year.

The grant is an incentive to entice businesses into electric vans, and to help prepare them in the lead-up to the 2030 petrol and diesel ban, when sales of new combustion engine vans will be banned.

It’s expected that the PIVG will accelerate the growth of electric vehicles, which in turn will help to make the UK less reliant on oil imports and reduce the risk that fluctuations in global energy prices can have on businesses.  

It was announced in March 2022 that the grant had been extended until 2024, so though there’s no rush yet, it’s worth considering – if you want to take the plunge – electric van leasing when you’re looking for your next vehicle so you can take advantage of the reduced price. 

What is the Plug-In Van Grant?

The Plug-In Van Grant is a grant aimed at aiding the transition to electric vans ahead of the 2030 petrol and diesel ban, offering a discount of up to £5,000 on small and large vans.

Though the title of the grant might seem a little vague, it doesn’t apply to every van with a plug. It only applies to vans that can travel over 60 miles on the electric battery, so plug-in hybrids below this figure won’t qualify for the grant.

On top of this, the vans must have CO2 emissions of less than 50g/km, and when it comes to weight, small vans must weight under 2,500kg gross vehicle weight, and large vans need to be between 2,500kg and 4,250kg. 

The maximum discount available on small vans is £2,500, while large vans get a maximum discount of £5,000.

This is slightly reduced from the original discount available some years ago, but it’s still a competitive discount and should help if you want to make the switch to electric van leasing.

If you need anything bigger, there is also the ‘small truck’ grant, offering a saving of up to £16,000, for vans over 4.25 tonnes, or with an N2 rating.

Which vans are eligible for the Plug-In Van Grant?

The official list of the vans eligible for the PIVG is available on the UK government website, but we’ve listed some of the most popular below for ease.

Small vans:

• Citroen e-Berlingo
• Fiat e-Doblo
• Maxus eDeliver 3 (short wheelbase)
• Nissan e-NV200
• Peugeot e-Partner
• Renault Kangoo E-Tech
• Renault Kangoo ZE
• Renault Zoe Van
• Toyota Proace City Electric
• Vauxhall Combo Electric

Large vans:

• Citroen e-Dispatch
• Citroen e-Relay
• Fiat e-Scudo
• Ford e-Transit (Leader)
• Ford e-Transit (Trend)
• Maxus eDeliver 9
• Mercedes-Benz eVito
• Mercedes-Benz eSprinter
• Renault Master ZE
• Toyota Proace Electric
• Vauxhall Vivaro Electric
• Volkswagen ID.Buzz

Workplace charging scheme for electric vans

Alongside the PIVG to help you get your hands on a brand-new electric van, there are also a couple of electric charging schemes that can help keep your vans fully juiced and ready to go.

The Workplace Charging Scheme (WCS) provides support for the up-front costs of the purchase and installation of electric vehicle charge points for eligible business. This scheme can reduce those upfront costs by up to 75% - a sizeable saving if you’re wanting to make your business greener.

The WCS is capped at £350 per socket – up to a maximum of 40 sockets per applicant – and your business must have enough off-street private parking either on-site or a reasonable distance from your workplace.

And you don’t even need to have an EV in your van fleet yet – you can apply for the grant if you know that in the near future, you’ll be looking at bringing electric vans on board.

There’s also an infrastructure grant available for small and medium-sized businesses (249 employees or less) to help them install the infrastructure needed for charge points.

This grant is capped at £15,000 per building, or 74% of the installation costs, and provides up to £500 for passive and an additional £350 for active infrastructure per parking space. The chargers must be installed exclusively for staff or fleet use, and your business needs to install infrastructure for a minimum of five private off-street parking spaces, with at least one active charge point.

But if you’re looking ahead to the future, and wanting to transition your company’s lease vans across to electric before the 2030 cut-off, these grants can go a long way in cutting costs and helping to keep more of your hard-earned cash in your pocket.