Diesel vs electric vans: running costs and the 2035 rule
Quick answer
- New diesel vans can be sold until 2035. Existing ones can still be driven after that.
- Charged at home, an electric van costs about a third as much per mile as diesel. On rapid public chargers it costs about the same.
- In London, diesel vans pay the full £18 Congestion Charge in the central zone. Diesels older than Euro 6 also pay £12.50 a day ULEZ anywhere in London.
- Company vans: no van benefit charge on zero-emission vans, against a £4,170 taxable value for diesel.
Are diesel vans banned from 2030?
No. New petrol, diesel and hybrid vans can still be sold until 2035, under rules the government confirmed in April 2025. The 2030 date you may have seen applies to new petrol and diesel cars, not vans. [1]
- The 2035 date covers new sales only. Diesel vans already on the road can still be driven, bought and sold second-hand.
- Before then, manufacturers have targets. The Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate requires a rising share of each manufacturer's new van sales to be zero-emission: 24% in 2026, rising to 70% in 2030. See the full table.
Is an electric van cheaper to run than a diesel?
Yes, if you charge at home or at a depot. On rapid public chargers it costs about the same. UK diesel passed £2 a litre for the first time on 2 October 2026, when the RAC's average reached a record 200.01p, after conflict in the Middle East and the war in Ukraine disrupted diesel supplies. [2]
| Fuel | Price used | Per mile | Per mile, ex-VAT |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diesel | 200.01p a litre [2] | 29p | 24p |
| Electric, home, standard tariff | 26.32p a kWh [3] | 9p | 9p |
| Electric, home, off-peak EV tariff | about 5p–8p a kWh [5] | 2p–3p | 2p–3p |
| Electric, public standard charger | 54p a kWh [6] | 19p | 16p |
| Electric, public rapid charger | 80p a kWh [6] | 29p | 24p |
Uses official figures for comparable vans: 31.4 mpg for the Ford Transit Custom 2.0 EcoBlue diesel [7] and 2.8 miles per kWh for the most efficient Ford E-Transit Custom [8]. Real-world figures are usually lower for both. VAT-registered businesses can normally reclaim the 20% VAT on diesel and public charging, so the ex-VAT column is closer to what they pay. Household electricity in Great Britain has no VAT from 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027, so the home rows are the same in both columns [4]. Business electricity tariffs vary. To use your own figures: diesel pence per mile = price per litre × 4.546 ÷ mpg; electric pence per mile = price per kWh ÷ miles per kWh.
- Over 10,000 miles, that's about £2,900 of diesel against about £940 charged at home on a standard tariff.
- Diesel isn't always this expensive. At 150p a litre it would be about 22p a mile (18p ex-VAT), which is cheaper than rapid charging.
- So the savings come from overnight charging. A van that mostly uses rapid public chargers saves little or nothing on fuel.
Where do diesel vans pay to drive?
- London Congestion Charge: £18 a day for diesel vans driving in the central charging zone during charging hours. Electric vans registered for Auto Pay get 50% off, so they pay £9. [9]
- London ULEZ: covers all London boroughs. Diesel vans up to 3.5 tonnes that don't meet the Euro 6 standard pay £12.50 a day. Most diesel vans sold since September 2016 meet Euro 6; check yours with TfL's vehicle checker. [10]
- Oxford Zero Emission Zone: charges even Euro 6 diesel vans, at £8 a day between 7am and 7pm. Check current charges with Oxfordshire County Council. [11]
- English Clean Air Zones: Bath, Birmingham, Bradford, Bristol, Sheffield, and Newcastle and Gateshead charge vans that don't meet Euro 6 (diesel) or Euro 4 (petrol). Portsmouth's zone doesn't charge vans. Daily charges vary by city. [12]
- Scottish Low Emission Zones: Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Dundee don't charge a daily fee. Instead, diesel vans that don't meet Euro 6 get a £60 penalty, which doubles for each repeat offence up to £480. [13]
- Electric vans meet all of these standards, so they pay none of these charges apart from the discounted Congestion Charge.
How do tax and grants differ for diesel and electric vans?
| Diesel van | Electric van | |
|---|---|---|
| Van benefit charge (taxable value) | £4,170 a year | £0 [14] |
| Vehicle tax (VED) | Standard van rate | Same rate since April 2025 [15] |
| Purchase grant | None | Up to £2,500 or £5,000 (plug-in van grant) |
The van benefit charge applies only when an employee can use a company van privately. The £4,170 isn't a tax bill: the employee pays income tax on that amount at their usual rate. It doesn't apply to self-employed drivers.
How many UK vans are still diesel?
At the end of 2025 there were 4.88 million vans and other light goods vehicles licensed in the UK. Only 113,000 of them (2.3%) were zero-emission, and almost all the rest run on diesel. [16]
New vans are changing faster. The DfT counts 9.3% of the 330,000 light goods vehicles registered in 2025 as zero-emission. [16] The industry body SMMT, which counts slightly differently, puts battery-electric vans at 9.5% of new van sales. More on sales.
Is an electric van right for your work?
- Where the van parks overnight: home or depot charging is what makes the running costs work.
- Daily mileage: compare your longest regular day with the van's real-world range, not just the official figure, and allow for winter. How far vans really go.
- Payload: batteries add weight. A car licence normally covers vans up to 3.5 tonnes, but since June 2025 it covers zero-emission vans up to 4.25 tonnes, so the battery doesn't have to eat into the payload. More on the licence rule.
- Where you drive: regular trips into London, Oxford, or a Clean Air Zone in an older diesel add up quickly.
Sources
- ZEV mandate changes, April 2025, BVRLA: bvrla.co.uk; Green Car Guide: greencarguide.co.uk
- Record diesel price, RAC: media.rac.co.uk; 200.01p on 2 October 2026: dmnews.co.uk; causes, ITV News: itv.com
- Energy price cap, 1 October to 31 December 2026, Ofgem: ofgem.gov.uk
- Zero VAT on domestic electricity in Great Britain, 1 October 2026 to 31 March 2027: swgroup.com
- Off-peak EV tariffs, 2026: heatable.co.uk
- Charging Price Index, July 2026, Zapmap: zapmap.com
- Ford Transit Custom 2.0 EcoBlue specs, Parkers: parkers.co.uk
- Ford E-Transit Custom review, Fleet News: fleetnews.co.uk; range and efficiency, Van Reviewer: vanreviewer.co.uk
- Congestion Charge changes, TfL: tfl.gov.uk
- ULEZ rules for vans, Auto Express: autoexpress.co.uk; vehicle checker: tfl.gov.uk
- Oxford Zero Emission Zone, Motorway: motorway.co.uk; Oxfordshire County Council: oxfordshire.gov.uk
- Clean Air Zones in 2026, Ayvens: ayvens.com; check a vehicle and pay: GOV.UK
- Scotland's Low Emission Zones, Transport Scotland: transport.gov.scot; Energy Saving Trust: energysavingtrust.org.uk
- Van benefit charge 2026/27, GOV.UK: gov.uk
- Vehicle tax for electric vehicles, GOV.UK: gov.uk
- Vehicle licensing statistics: 2025, GOV.UK: gov.uk
Next: compare electric vans by range, payload and price, or read about charging an electric van and grants and rules.