Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the implications for his policies of the impact of battery weights on 4 and 6 axle electric HGVs on the payload they are able to carry to remain within maximum axle weights and gross vehicle weights.

The Department has already taken steps to support uptake of electric HGVs by increasing their maximum gross weight limit to reduce any payload loss compared to a diesel equivalent. The Road Vehicles (Authorised Weight) (Amendment) Regulations 2023 came into force in July 2023, and there is an associated published impact assessment.

The Department is also in the procurement process for a research project on weights and dimensions of zero emission HGVs. The project will provide an evidence base to inform policy discussions regarding weights and dimensions within the UK. The deadline for bids was on Sunday 19 November.

Since the plug-in van grant was launched in 2012, it has supported over 40,000 electric vans and HGVs across the UK. There are now almost 60 models of electric vans and trucks eligible for grants. These include a wide variety of specifications, such as differing wheelhouses and roof heights, and benefit from lower running costs than internal combustion engine vans.

Finally, to further increase the evidence base on performance of the largest zero emission HGVs, the Department’s £200m zero emission HGV and infrastructure programme will demonstrate zero emission HGVs and their associated charging and fuelling infrastructure at scale on UK roads. The four winning projects will roll out up to 370 zero emission HGVs, around 50 battery electric charging sites and up to 7 hydrogen refuelling stations.