Government releases £200m for the development of zero-emission HGV Trucks

Three year programme is planned to begin in 2022 in order to decarbonise British freight industry.

Road to Net-Zero – A significant boost for zero-emission technology.

This significant investment is set to kickstart technologies that will allow Britain to become the world’s largest carbon-neutral fleet of HGV trucks, contributing to the Government’s COP26 pledges.

This programme is also set to create hundreds of new vacancies within the green sector and decrease costs of freight as well as country’s reliance on foreign oil imports.

Research and Development

Initial stage will consist of a competition, stimulating research and development of reliable electric and hydrogen fuel technologies necessary for a carbon-neutral fleet of HGV’s

The programme will also provide information about the future needs of the recharging infrastructure across the country in order to meet a 2050 carbon-neutral goal set by the government.

Transport Minister Trudy Harrison MP said: “Our road freight industry is one of the most efficient in the world and contributes over £13 billion to the UK economy each year.

“But we must accelerate our journey towards our net zero goals, and we’re committed to leading the way globally on non-zero emission road vehicles.

“Our ambitious plans will continue to ensure food is stockpiled on the shelves and goods are supplied, while eliminating fossil fuels from HGVs and making our freight sector green for good.”

Zero-Emission Solutions

This programme will expand the Department for Transport’s last year’s zero-emission freight trials, where vehicle manufacturer Leyland Trucks successfully rolled out 20 electric-powered lorries for use by NHS and local authorities in order to gather necessary research for future development of the zero-emission technologies within the industry.

Zero-Emission future for our sector

According to the pledges presented at COP26, all of Britain’s HGV’s sold after 2040 will be carbon-neutral. This puts our country on-track to be the first with fully decarbonised fleet of vehicles in G7.

We’re excited what the future will bring for the green technology within the logistics sector!