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Department for Transport publishes Delivery Plan for transitioning to zero emission vans
The promised Delivery Plan for transitioning to zero emission cars and vans was published by the Department for Transport on 14 July 2021 setting out investment and policy initiatives for meeting the 2030 and 2035 phase out dates affecting vans and included significant milestones and ways progress will be monitored.
PUBLIC CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE
Headlines from the plan included a £1.3bn funding commitment to the roll out of public charging infrastructure on motorways, streets, homes and workplaces, including £950million to upgrade electricity connections at English motorway and A-road service areas to enable private sector investment in new chargepoints.
The Government's car and van fleets are to be 100% fully zero emission at the tailpipe by 2027, funding for research, development and innovation will continue and also commitments to increasing zero emission at the tail-pipe vehicle supply.
HOMECHARGE SCHEME
The commitment to shift the support of the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS) to focus on leaseholder, renters and those living in flats from April 2022, was welcomed as this could help drivers who take their vans home after their shifts but who do not have access to off-street parking. There was also a commitment to continue to fund the EVHS scheme and the Workplace Chargepoint Scheme until at least 2024/25.
CONNECTION COSTS
The plan acknowledged high connection costs for fleet depots are challenging for the sector with some relief being proposed in the current Ofgem Access and Forward Charges Review consultation. However, Logistics UK will be submitting a robust response to this consultation as it does not believe the proposals will fully address the high costs of increasing electricity supply at depot when extensions to power supply are necessary.
CATEGORY B DEROGATION
Logistics UK was pleased to see a commitment to review the Category B Derogation for alternatively fuelled vehicles – something that Logistics UK has called for. And while the plan committed to continue favourable company car tax rates for zero emission cars until at least March 2025, the plug-in van grant was only confirmed until 2022-23.
Denise Beedell, Public Policy Manager at Logistics UK said: “We are pleased the Delivery Plan for moving to zero emission cars and vans has finally been published and we will be reading with interest the EV Infrastructure, Net Zero and Hydrogen strategies that are all due to be published later this year.
“The key areas we will be looking for will be investment and initiatives that help ensure commercial vehicles can fully access charging and refuelling infrastructure, further guidance about the technologies available to the van sector in meeting the UK’s decarbonisation objectives and clear information about the support that will be available to van operators as the light goods vehicle sector leads the industry’s transition to Net Zero.”
*www.gov.uk/government/publications/transitioning-to-zero-emission-cars-and-vans-2035-delivery-plan
Published On: 12/08/2021 16:00:00
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