The Government says it’s on track to meet its 2027 target for the entire fleet to be fully zero emission after meeting an interim benchmark early.

The Government said having a higher rate of ULEV vehicles in its fleet means it’s on track to meet its 2027 target to be fully zero emission

It’s already switched over more than a quarter of all its cars (25.5%) to ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEVs). The milestone was set out in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ Greening government commitments in 2021 to 2025 with a deadline of the end of 2022 – but was actually achieved three months early. Latest data from September shows 25.5% of all central government cars were ultra-low emission vehicles, reaching the target three months ahead of schedule.

Technology and Decarbonisation Minister Jesse Norman said the confirmation reinforced the push on fully decarbonising the central car and van fleet and showed the Government was playing its part ahead of the 2030 ICE ban.

But he added that concerted action was still needed in the wider fleet sector as the UK moves towards a cleaner transport network.

“It’s critical that progress in decarbonising fleets is matched elsewhere. We will continue to forge ahead, to complete the switch by 2027 and help make the UK a world leader in decarbonisation.”

Latest industry statistics from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders show sales of fully electric cars continued to soar in 2022, up 40.1% and accounting for 16.6% of new registrations, surpassing diesel for the first time to become the second most popular powertrain after petrol. In the van sector, a total of 16,744 battery electric vans (BEVs) were registered in 2022, up 31.2% and representing 5.9% of all vans joining UK roads last year.

The Government also highlighted its work in boosting the charging network. Its £10m Local electric vehicle infrastructure (LEVI) pilot, part of the wider LEVI fund, is expected to deliver 1,000 local charge points across England, with nine local authorities receiving funding. Winning projects are supported by an additional £9m in private funding.

New Zap-Map figures show the UK’s public charging network saw strong growth in 2022, although it was outpaced by EV take-up. At the end of December 2022, there were 37,261 electric vehicle charging points across the UK, across 22,049 charging locations – up 31% increase. The 8,800+ net new chargers also mark a new record for the highest number of UK charge points ever installed within a year.

But the charge point mapping service said there are particular areas where we need to see improvements.

Melanie Shufflebotham, co-founder and COO, commented: “There’s still a London and South East bias, especially for slow on-street charging, and reliability remains the top concern for EV drivers.

“The rollout of rapid and ultra-rapid chargers has been moving at pace and this needs to continue through 2023, because they are crucial for topping up en-route.”