Commercial vehicle charging gridlock must ease to deliver net zero

Decarbonising the UK’s commercial vehicle fleet is vital to achieving a net zero future, but long waits for electricity grid connections threaten to stall progress, according to new analysis by the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

With 5.1 million vans and 626,000 trucks on UK roads transporting more than 80% of all domestic freight and contributing £13.5 billion annually to the economy, commercial vehicles (CVs) are essential. However, they also account for over a third of all road transport CO₂ emissions, making their transition to zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) critical.

The shift to electric vans and trucks is underway, with more than 35 van and 30 truck ZEV models now available. Yet adoption remains slow: only 8.3% of van registrations are electric, well short of the 16% ZEV mandate target for 2025. For trucks, the challenge is even greater, with ZEVs comprising just 0.5% of registrations.

A key obstacle, according to SMMT, is the severe delay in grid connections, with some companies facing waits of up to 15 years—far beyond the 2035 ban on new non-ZEV vans and smaller HGVs, and the 2040 deadline for all new trucks to be zero emission.

While government support programmes such as grants and the Zero Emission HGV and Infrastructure Demonstrator (ZEHID) scheme are helping, SMMT argues that urgent action is needed. Priority grid access, reforms to planning policies, lower energy costs, and a faster rollout of strategic road network charging facilities are essential to unlock operator investment.

“Prioritising grid connections, alongside reform to planning and action on energy costs, would reduce barriers to adoption, ensuring commercial vehicles continue to carry the loads that keep our economy on the move whilst doing the heavy lifting the nation needs to reach net zero.”