Over three million van drivers – 1 in 10 workers – are at risk of being left behind in the transition to cleaner, greener vehicles, unless the Government takes steps to support the move to zero-emission vans.

The Zero Emission Van Plan calls for increased fiscal support, improved charging and the removal of regulatory barriers

That was the overriding message from an open letter to the Chancellor last week, ahead of the Spring Budget today (Wednesday 6 March).

The letter forms part of the Zero Emission Van Plan campaign, fronted by the BVRLA in collaboration with Logistics UK, Recharge UK, the Association of Fleet Professionals (AFP), and The EV Café.

A host of leading fleet operators and van manufacturers also gave their support to the activity. They included:

• Stellantis
• Ford
• The AA
• DPD
• Eric Wright Group
• Fleet 200 Strategy Network
• ISS
• John Lewis Partnership
• Royal Mail
• SSE

The Zero Emission Van Plan calls for increased fiscal support, improved charging and the removal of regulatory barriers.

It also highlights that vans account for nearly a fifth of miles driven on UK roads and represent a considerable opportunity to reduce emissions and support the Government’s transport decarbonisation strategy.

Coalition members are also warning that the UK is already behind schedule on the new Zero Emission Vehicle Mandate. This came into effect from January and requires 10% of new van registrations in 2024 to be on zero-emission vehicles. The equivalent portion in 2023 was 5.9%, while data for February shows just 4.7% of new vans registered were ZEVs.

The Zero Emission Van Plan was launched on this backdrop and is calling for the government to take immediate steps to support the transition to electric vans.

Fleets are being encouraged to support the plan by completing a very short online poll to strengthen the data the coalition is putting to decision-makers.

Details of the Zero Emission Van Plan are on the BVRLA website here.