Electric-van registrations jump 74%

The Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT) data shows 4,252 battery-electric light commercial vehicles were registered in July, up 74.1% year on year. BEVs reached a record 14.7% share of the monthly LCV market, while year-to-date share moved into double digits for the first time at 10.6%.

The wider van market also grew strongly, with 28,578 vans, pickups and 4x4s registered during the month, up 22.0% compared with July 2025.

SMMT July 2026 Van by fuel type data — **Image 1.** SMMT July 2026 Vans by fuel type data (Source: SMMT)

Electric vans are growing quickly from a lower base

The 74.1% growth figure is significant, but it needs context. July’s 14.7% BEV share for vans remains considerably below the 27.5% share recorded by battery-electric cars during the same month.

SMMT says the 10.6% year-to-date electric-van share remains less than half of the 24% level associated with the 2026 mandate target. Its latest market outlook expects BEVs to account for 11.5% of van registrations across the full year.

That gap is useful for charging infrastructure providers because electric vans often create a different charging requirement from privately owned cars.

Van electrification concentrates demand at depots and workplaces

A private car may charge at home, at work, at a destination or on the public network. Commercial vans are more likely to create concentrated demand at operational sites, particularly where multiple vehicles return to the same depot at the end of a shift.

Even a relatively modest fleet can therefore add significant load to a workplace electrical connection. The challenge is not simply installing one charger for each van, but deciding how much energy the fleet needs within the available charging window and how that demand should be distributed across the site.

Vehicles returning at similar times can create a large theoretical peak if every charger is treated as an independent maximum load. Managed charging can reduce that peak by allocating power according to route requirements, departure times and the energy each vehicle actually needs.

Depot constraints are different from vehicle-market constraints

SMMT identifies higher upfront vehicle costs, insufficient charging infrastructure and wider operator pressures as continuing barriers to electric-van adoption.

For fleet operators, charging projects can introduce additional constraints that are less visible in vehicle-registration data. Sites may have limited spare electrical capacity, businesses may occupy leased premises, route patterns can change, and not every vehicle has the same dwell time or daily energy requirement.

These issues can make depot electrification a longer planning exercise than purchasing the vehicles themselves. Grid reinforcement, distribution-board upgrades, charger installation and back-office configuration may all need to be considered before a large number of vans can be introduced.

Higher-power charging is not automatically the answer

The simplest response to shorter charging windows is to specify higher-power chargers, but that can significantly increase the site’s potential peak demand and infrastructure cost.

Where vans return for a predictable overnight period, lower-power AC charging combined with load management may support a larger number of vehicles from the same electrical connection. Fleets with double shifts, unpredictable returns or high daily mileage may require a different mix, including faster DC charging for selected vehicles.

The appropriate design therefore depends on route energy use and operational scheduling rather than the headline maximum charging capability of the vehicle.

The charging industry should watch van uptake closely

Electric vans still represent a smaller share of registrations than electric cars, but their infrastructure impact can be disproportionately concentrated.

If the market continues growing at the rates seen in July, installers, designers and fleet operators will increasingly need repeatable approaches to depot surveys, connection planning, phased charger deployment, load management and maintenance.

The next stage of electric-van growth will depend not only on vehicle availability and pricing, but on how easily businesses can turn existing operational sites into reliable charging depots.