Government announces £18m funding to cut cost of electric trucks

Tue 06 January 2026 View all news

The Government has announced discounts of up to £120,000 on new electric trucks from an additional £18m funding made available to increase the Plug-In Truck Grant until March 2026. Alongside this, the Government has launched a consultation on the future regulatory framework to support the transition to zero emission heavy goods vehicles.

Commenting on the reasoning behind the additional £18m of funding, the Government said that whilst day-to-day running costs can be lower for electric trucks compared to their diesel counterparts, upfront vehicle purchase costs are typically higher.

The latest move is part of the Government's £318 million plan for green freight

The Plug-in-Truck Grant enables lorry operators to access savings of up to £120,000 when buying a new electric truck.

New grant levels mean: 

  • smaller trucks (4.25t to 12t) could save up to £20,000  

  • mid-sized trucks (12t to 18t) up to £60,000 

  • larger trucks (18t to 26t) up to £80,000 

  • and the largest lorries (26t and over) up to £120,000

DfT's decarbonisation minister, Keir Mather, said: "Our proposals will provide the certainty the industry has been calling for so that Britain becomes the best place for green investment."

The funding is additional to over £120 million already invested as part of the zero emission heavy goods vehicle (HGV) and infrastructure demonstrator (ZEHID) programme to roll out more zero emission lorries on UK roads.

The Government has also launched a consultation on the regulatory roadmap to phase out sales of new non-zero emission HGVs by 2040. 

This consultation considers regulatory options to:

  • reduce emissions from new heavy goods vehicles (HGVs)

  • support phasing out the sale of new non-zero emission heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) weighing up to and including 26 tonnes by 2035

  • phase-out the sale of all new non-zero emission HGVs by 2040

The consultation seeks stakeholder views on the regulatory options and broad regulatory design of a future framework to reduce HGV emissions.

The deadline for responses to the consultation is 17 March.

(Image: Courtesy Mercedes)

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