![\"Ford](\"https:\/\/www.globalvillagespace.com\/tech\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/ford-faces-electric-van-challenge-as-sales-lag-behind-targets.jpg\" "\\"Ford")
<\/a><\/p>\nThe Blue Oval has sold just 2443 electric light commercial vehicles in 2025 – 5.4% of its 45,190 total<\/p>\n
The UK\u2019s biggest van seller,\u00a0Ford<\/a>, is also the biggest laggard on tough government-mandated EV sales targets when it comes to the main players, new figures show.<\/p>\n So far this year, Ford has sold 2443\u00a0electric 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.<\/p>\n By contrast, the nation’s second biggest van seller,\u00a0Volkswagen<\/a>, is running at 19% so far this year, thanks mainly to the commercial version of the\u00a0ID Buzz<\/a>.\u00a0Vauxhall<\/a> in third has an EV share of\u00a017%.<\/p>\n Overall electric\u00a0van 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).<\/p>\n Van makers continue to struggle to persuade buyers to make the shift to cleaner transport, being thwarted by\u00a0higher prices, range anxiety and a lack of penalties for buyers choosing diesel again.<\/p>\n There are some benefits for\u00a0buyers, though.\u00a0The government announced in February that it would extend its\u00a0Plug-in Van Grant (PiVG) for another year, worth \u00a32500 off the cost of smaller vans and \u00a35000 of larger models up to 4.25 tonnes.<\/p>\n The cost of an electric van is also 100% claimable from a company\u2019s taxable profits.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n However, in April the government made a raft of changes to the ZEV mandate <\/a>that would take some of the pressure off van makers, in effect reducing\u00a0the 16% target this year.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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\u00a0dropping to 10% by 2029.<\/p>\n Van makers also don\u2019t have to show any improvement in CO2 emissions within their ICE fleet between 2030 and 2035. Unlike with cars, they don\u2019t have to hybridise during that period.<\/p>\n Perhaps the most useful change, depending on the brand, is the ability to use excess electric car <\/a>sales to count within their electric van target, with one electric car counting as 0.4 electric vans.<\/p>\n The deal works the other way too, with one electric van counting as two electric cars.<\/p>\n Other credits, including potentially for vans with vehicle-to-grid capability (meaning they can feed energy back to the grid during peak periods),\u00a0are in discussion, according to the government.<\/p>\n The changes, which include greater flexibilities for those selling cars<\/a>, \u201cprovide short-term flexibility to ensure that jobs and investment remain in the\u00a0UK\u00a0as we pivot towards electric vehicles,\u201d said transport secretary Heidi Alexander\u00a0in April.<\/p>\n The danger of relaxing the rules is that the already sluggish electrification of\u00a0vans will slow further, worrying those companies that have banked on legislation driving up the electric share of the market.<\/p>\n \u201cThe latest SMMT\u00a0figures expose a widening disconnect in the UK\u2019s transition to electric vehicles,\u201d said Matt Hawkins, UK head of\u00a0Flexis, a\u00a0commercial EV company formed by\u00a0Renault<\/a>, Volvo<\/a>\u00a0and logistics firm CMA CGM.\u00a0\u201cWhile sales are growing, the pace is far too slow.\u201d<\/p>\n Flexis, along with Geely-owned Farizon<\/a> and Kia<\/a>, are launching electric vans targeting the key 2.5 tonne-3.5-tonne segment currently ruled by the Ford Transit Custom.<\/p>\n