New electric lorry grant in the UK: up to £120,000 off the purchase price

New electric lorry grant in the UK: up to £120,000 off the purchase price

trans.info — 2026-01-07

Land transportation

The UK government has topped up the Plug-in Truck Grant with an additional £18 million, increasing the maximum support available for electric lorries and extending the scheme until March 2026. The grant is designed to reduce the upfront cost gap between diesel and zero-emission HGVs, which remains the main obstacle to wider uptake.

Under the updated scheme, the maximum grant available depends on the vehicle’s weight category:

trucks from 4.25 to 12 tonnes: up to £20,000

• 12 to 18 tonnes: up to £60,000
• 18 to 26 tonnes: up to £80,000
• over 26 tonnes: up to £120,000

The grant applies only to new electric trucks that are approved under the scheme.

Who can claim the grant – and how it works

The Plug-in Truck Grant is available to UK-based businesses and fleet operators purchasing eligible zero-emission lorries. Importantly for hauliers, the grant does not need to be applied for directly.

Instead, it works as follows:

• the vehicle must be on the government’s list of approved electric and hybrid trucks
• the grant is claimed by the vehicle dealer or manufacturer
• the discount is then deducted from the purchase price at the point of sale

This means operators see the benefit immediately on the invoice, rather than reclaiming the money later. There is no competitive bidding process, but funding is finite and time-limited, which may affect availability as the March 2026 deadline approaches.

Short-term support, long-term decisions

While the higher grant levels improve purchase economics, the limited duration of the scheme remains a concern for many operators. Heavy vehicle procurement often runs over several years, and fleets planning large-scale replacement programmes may struggle to commit without clarity on support beyond next year.

This concern has been echoed by Logistics UK, which welcomed the higher grants but warned that short-term funding does not provide the certainty needed for long-term investment decisions. The organisation has previously reported that a majority of logistics operators believe government funding for decarbonisation remains inadequate.

Infrastructure still the main bottleneck

Even with higher grants, charging infrastructure continues to be the decisive constraint for many hauliers. Industry surveys cited by Logistics UK show low confidence in both public HGV charging availability and the ability to install sufficiently powerful chargers at depots, due to grid capacity limits, connection costs and planning delays.

As a result, the feasibility of electric trucks still varies widely depending on duty cycle, location and access to private infrastructure, particularly for long-haul and multi-shift operations.

Alongside the funding announcement, the government has launched a consultation on a regulatory roadmap to phase out sales of new non-zero-emission HGVs by 2040. The outcome will shape future compliance obligations and investment planning for operators.