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The UK’s biggest van seller, Ford, is also the biggest laggard on tough government-mandated EV sales targets when it comes to the main players, new figures show.

So far this year, Ford has sold 2443 electric light commercial vehicles (LCVs), equating to 5.4% of its 45,190 LCV total and some way short of the 16% required by the ZEV mandate, according to EV think tank NewAutoMotive.

By contrast, the nation's second biggest van seller, Volkswagen, is running at 19% so far this year, thanks mainly to the commercial version of the ID Buzz. Vauxhall in third has an EV share of 17%.

Overall electric van sales to the end of May hit 6877, putting EVs at 7.6% of the 133,798 total in the sub-3.5-tonne category, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT).

Van makers continue to struggle to persuade buyers to make the shift to cleaner transport, being thwarted by higher prices, range anxiety and a lack of penalties for buyers choosing diesel again.

There are some benefits for buyers, though. The government announced in February that it would extend its Plug-in Van Grant (PiVG) for another year, worth £2500 off the cost of smaller vans and £5000 of larger models up to 4.25 tonnes.

The cost of an electric van is also 100% claimable from a company’s taxable profits.

The SMMT is pushing the government to do more to persuade business users to switch, including investing in a more van-suitable charging infrastructure and giving preferential treatment for depot grid connections.

However, in April the government made a raft of changes to the ZEV mandate that would take some of the pressure off van makers, in effect reducing the 16% target this year. 

The top-line figures essentially stay the same and the 2035 date remains for 100% zero-emission sales. But this year, for example, van makers can halve their EV target by promising to overdeliver in future years up to 2030. That promise was extended to include sales in 2027 through 2030, with the target dropping to 10% by 2029.

Van makers also don’t have to show any improvement in CO2 emissions within their ICE fleet between 2030 and 2035. Unlike with cars, they don’t have to hybridise during that period.

Perhaps the most useful change, depending on the brand, is the ability to use excess electric car sales to count within their electric van target, with one electric car counting as 0.4 electric vans.

The deal works the other way too, with one electric van counting as two electric cars.

Other credits, including potentially for vans with vehicle-to-grid capability (meaning they can feed energy back to the grid during peak periods), are in discussion, according to the government.

The changes, which include greater flexibilities for those selling cars, “provide short-term flexibility to ensure that jobs and investment remain in the UK as we pivot towards electric vehicles,” said transport secretary Heidi Alexander in April.

The danger of relaxing the rules is that the already sluggish electrification of vans will slow further, worrying those companies that have banked on legislation driving up the electric share of the market.

“The latest SMMT figures expose a widening disconnect in the UK’s transition to electric vehicles,” said Matt Hawkins, UK head of Flexis, a commercial EV company formed by Renault, Volvo and logistics firm CMA CGM. “While sales are growing, the pace is far too slow.”

Flexis, along with Geely-owned Farizon and Kia, are launching electric vans targeting the key 2.5 tonne-3.5-tonne segment currently ruled by the Ford Transit Custom.

Ford and Stellantis are currently hedging their bets by adapting ICE vehicle platforms to take battery-electric powertrains.

That saves on development and production costs but makes for an uneasy comparison on the website configurator, where the EV is clearly more expensive with none of the space or tech benefits that a new EV-specific platform.

For example, the diesel Transit Custom starts at £33,350 (excluding VAT) while the cheapest E-Transit Custom is more than £10,000 pricier – something the £2500 PiVG only partly addresses.

Stellantis’s fuel-cell electric vans are even more expensive: the newly launched Vauxhall Movano 4250 Hydrogen costs from £67,221 (excluding VAT) compared with £51,780 for the equivalent BEV and £35,420 for the equivalent diesel.

Peugeot will reveal a hot GTi variant of the electric e-208 supermini on the eve of the Le Mans 24 Hour race today.

The brand has confirmed that its long-mooted Alpine A290 rival, officially confirmed by Peugeot boss Alain Favey earlier this year, will be unwrapped on 13 June. It has given no details, but says it will be "fun to drive, agile, powerful - built to deliver an unforgettable driving experience".

It will be the first GTi model since the previous-generation Peugeot 308 went off sale in 2021 and Peugeot's first sporty pure-electric car.

Speaking to media recently, Favey said: “I’m in a position to confirm that we will reintroduce the GTi on the e-208 as soon as possible. We’ve made the decision that Peugeot GTi will be reintroduced.”

He added that it is a “signal” about “what it means to reconnect to our past, our history” and that it would link the French brand’s road cars to its involvement in motorsport - particularly the World Endurance Championship, in which it fields the 9X8 hypercar.

“We want to continue to nurture the reputation of the brand for driving sensations and the fact that our cars produce particular driving sensations, either as a driver or as someone that is being driven in the car,” Favey said.

As for a broader GTi line-up or a sporting model with a combustion engine, Favey suggested it will depend on customer feedback.

He said: “We will start with the 208 and [are] definitely listening to your inputs, or what our customers will say as well.

"We don't exclude that there might be other executions of the 208 GTi under the GTi badge, but for today there's absolutely nothing planned in that sense."

Confirmation of the GTi badge’s return comes after Favey said that he would consider it as one of his first jobs since taking over as Peugeot CEO in February. 

The new e-208 GTi is tipped to use the same powertrain as the closely related Abarth 600e, which is based on the same e-CMP platform.

The high-riding Italian hot hatch gets a 237bhp motor mounted up front with a Torsen limited-slip differential, and tout a 0-62mph sprint time of 6.2sec.

It’s possible that a lighter and lower-set e-208 equipped with the same powertrain could cut that to below 6.0sec.

Both the Abarth and the closely related Alfa Romeo Junior Veloce are also offered with a punchier 278bhp motor, leaving room for a special edition in the vein of the previous 208 GTi by Peugeot Sport. 

Green-lighting the e-208 GTi for production is also likely to result in a hot version of the Vauxhall Corsa Electric, given that the two models are twinned and Vauxhall has already confirmed plans for a hot Mokka GSE using the Abarth 600e's powertrain.