Briefing: £1bn additional funding available for Zero Emissions Truck and Van Grants & Depot Charging Scheme
On 25th March, the Government announced £1bn of funding to help HGV fleets reduce CO2 emissions.
This is additional funding that follows financial support that was available during 2025/26. This briefing provides a basic overview of the funding schemes available.
What’s on offer?
The Government is providing additional funding support to help hauliers:
acquire zero emission vehicles into your fleets
invest in your depots to provide charging infrastructure to power your zero emission vehicles
Funding for zero emission HGVs
The Plug-In Truck Grant has been replaced with the Zero Emission Truck Grant (ZETG) with revised levels of subsidy available according to the weight of the vehicle, as follows:
Up to £15,000 or 20% upfront cost for trucks between 4.25–12 tonnes.
Up to £37,000 or 40% upfront cost for trucks between 12–18 tonnes.
Up to £52,000 or 40% upfront cost for trucks between 18–26 tonnes.
Up to £81,000 or 40% upfront cost for trucks over 26 tonnes.
This funding is available to organisations based in England, Wales, and Scotland. Limits apply as to how many zero emission trucks you can acquire during each financial year. The Office of Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV), part of the Department for Transport, currently advise “For trucks, each business, organisation or individual may receive up to 100 zero emission truck grants each financial year across all weight categories.”
For more information about the grant scheme, see: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/plug-in-vehicle-grant-portal-guidance/using-the-plug-in-vehicle-grant-portal
Special considerations for businesses based in Northern Ireland
Due to EU state aid requirements, different rules apply in Northern Ireland. Small and medium size enterprises will receive the same grant rates as in England, Wales, and Scotland subject to providing evidence they meet the definition of a medium enterprise or smaller. See this link for more information: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/plug-in-vehicle-grant-portal-guidance/using-the-plug-in-vehicle-grant-portal#definition-of-an-sme-small-and-medium-sized-enterprise
For large enterprises in Northern Ireland, they will be capped at the lower of 30% of the upfront cost or the numerical cap for the upper three weight categories.
Funding for zero emission vans
The Plug-in Van Grant has been replaced by the Zero Emission Van Grant (ZEVG). Grant rates for eligible ZE vans remain the same as previous schemes, with up to £5,000 for a large van and up to £2,500 for a small van. There are no other changes being made to the ZEVG at this time.
Again, limits apply as to how many zero emission vans you can acquire during each financial year. Currently, OZEV advise “For vans, each business, organisation or individual may receive up to 1,500 zero emission van grants each financial year.”
For further information on how the grant schemes work, see:
Depot Charging Scheme
Following a successful pilot by DfT during 2025/26, a £170m multi-year funding programme via the Depot Charging Scheme will be available from April 2026 up to 2030. It aims to support the uptake of zero emission HGVs, vans, and coaches by part-funding the installation of charging infrastructure at fleet depots.
For now, DfT have confirmed that £66 million will be available to bid for in two application windows as follows:
£28 million (window 1) to be spent in 2026/27
£38 million (window 2) to be spent in 2027/28.
The first application window for the multi-year scheme will open on 25 March 2026 with applications assessed on a first-come-first-served basis. The application window will close on 30 June 2026, or sooner if funding has been exhausted. Projects will have until 31 March 2027 to complete works.
The application cycle for projects implemented in 2026/27 will cover 70% of chargepoint and civil costs incurred, up to a maximum of £1 million across all sites. There is no limit to the number of sites that can be applied for, but the scheme is limited to one application per organisation per application window.
Other eligibility criteria is as follows:
Your fleet has (or will include in future) at least one battery electric van, HGV or coach
You are registered and operate in the UK and your organisation and vehicle fleet has been operating in the UK for at least 1 year at the time of application
You own or lease one or more UK depot(s).
You agree that the primary use of the funded infrastructure will be for commercial vehicles.
If the infrastructure is shared with other fleet operators, the pricing model is based on cost recovery for at least three years after the grant is awarded.
You will successfully install the charging infrastructure for battery‑electric vans, HGVs and/or coaches at your depot by 31 March 2027
The second application window will open on 28 October 2026 and close on 29 January 2027 for projects starting from April 2027 and to be delivered by 31 March 2028. Grant rates for this phase have yet to be confirmed.
For more information about how the Depot Charging Scheme works and eligibility criteria, see: https://www.find-government-grants.service.gov.uk/grants/depot-charging-scheme-1
More information
How to apply for the Zero Emission Truck and Van Grants?
The subsidy is overseen by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV). In simple terms, when you place an order for an “eligible vehicle” with a vehicle dealer or manufacturer, the vehicle dealer or manufacturer will apply for the subsidy on your behalf and apply the subsidy to the price of the vehicle.
What are the “eligible vehicles”?
The list of “eligible” trucks where you can apply for the subsidy can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/zero-emission-vehicle-grants/trucks
The list of “eligible” vans where you can apply for the subsidy can be found here:
https://www.gov.uk/zero-emission-vehicle-grants/vans
At the time of writing, we are not aware of “eligible” coaches, and we will continue campaigning to get qualifying coaches on the list.
Is there a limit on how much truck and grant van subsidy I can get?
Yes. OZEV currently advise that, within a financial year, businesses are limited to acquiring 100 zero emission trucks and 1500 zero emission vans.
Is there a deadline by which I must apply for the subsidy?
We advise you to apply for funding for depot charging and to acquire your zero emission commercial vehicles as soon as possible whilst funds last.
With regards to the Depot Charging Scheme, OZEV advise that applications will be assessed on a “first-come, first-served basis”.
The APPG’sview
We welcome this additional funding from DfT. It is another positive step that tackles two of the biggest barriers operators face to decarbonise their fleets: upfront vehicle costs and the costs incurred to invest in charging at depot. It also demonstrates the Government’s commitment to help operators reduce emissions from their fleets.
We support this funding as part of our aim to get a functioning vehicle market in place – in simple terms, where a supplier (in this instance, the vehicle manufacturer or, for the second-hand market, first user) provides a product (a vehicle) that a buyer (a commercial vehicle operator) is willing to buy for their needs (to fulfill their obligations to their end-customer). Our aim is to break down the “barriers” which prevent the establishment of that functioning vehicle market.
For more information and updates on these schemes, please see the Road Haulage Association’s net zero policy page: https://www.rha.uk.net/Campaigns/Net-Zero