The clean van commitment

● By 2020, our 16 fleets alone will put more electric vans on the road than have been purchased by the whole UK industry in the last year (2,400 in total).
● First time fleets are collaborating to kickstart replacing the UK's 4 million diesel vans by investing £40 million. This sends a clear demand signal to manufacturers.
● Further commitments are being made for 18,000 electric vans to replace diesel vans by 2028.
● Older diesel vans are costing the NHS and wider society a massive £2.2 billion every year.
● Urban areas such as London, Slough and Birmingham top Global Action Plan’s van hotspot league table.

New analysis of research shows that pollution from older diesel vans has a significant impact on human health, costing £2.2 billion per annum to the NHS and society. This is a problem, and it's set to increase as vans are the fastest-growing vehicle type in the UK. With 75 billion miles driven each year by vans, they contribute a staggering 30% of the UK's road transport NOx emissions, costing three times more per vehicle to the UK’s health than cars.






The good news

We've joined 15 other organisations by signing the Clean Van Commitment and collectively investing an initial £40 million over the next 2 years to drive the increase in use of electric vans.

This new demand for electric vehicles will kickstart the transition to fully electrify the UK's 4 million diesel van fleet. The first batch alone could reach up to £55 million in lifetime savings from health costs in areas like central London.

What have we committed to?

We're aiming to deliver zero tailpipe emissions by 2028 (if sufficient charging infrastructure and competitively priced electric vans are available). This will create a new landscape for electric vans, bringing down the cost and creating a second hand market in 4-6 years. This is good news to the 2 million or so independent van owners who want to do their bit for clean air in their community.