Battery energy storage can help break 15-year gridlock for grid upgrades

It is vital to the UK’s Net Zero strategy that we solve this problem. By 2035, all new commercial vehicles (CVs) with a gross vehicle weight of under 26 tonnes must be plug-in electric, while all new HGVs sold must be electric by 2040.

While CVs make up 14% of all vehicles on the road, they are responsible for more than a third of all CO2 emissions from road transport. This is because they typically cover more miles than cars and have higher energy demands. According to the SMMT, replacing conventionally fuelled CVs with zero emission vehicle (ZEV) models is critical to the achievement of net zero. In fact, transitioning the entire fleet would deliver CO₂ savings of 35.7 megatons, greater than the total carbon footprint of Sweden. It would also eliminate approximately 12% of the UK’s entire carbon footprint.

However, grid connection issues are putting the brakes on electric van adoption. The Government’s ZEV mandate requires 16% of new vans sold in 2025 to be ZEVs. However, at present e-van registrations are only at 8.3%. SMMT expects the market to reach 25% ZEV by the end of 2027, significantly below the mandate target of 34%.