£1 billion just landed for UK fleet electrification. Window 2 opens in weeks — start your application now.

A billion pounds. That's the size of the package the UK government dropped on fleet electrification on 25 March 2026. £170 million of it is specifically for depot charging infrastructure. Window 1 closed at noon on 30 June — oversubscribed, as these things always are. Window 2 opens on 28 October 2026 with £38 million on the table, and closes 29 January 2027 — or sooner if the money runs out. Based on window 1, the money runs out.

That gives you roughly ten weeks to have a submission-ready bid — which sounds like plenty until you learn that a strong application takes most fleets three to four weeks to assemble, and the DNO correspondence it needs can take longer.

This post explains, in plain English, what the £1bn actually is, who qualifies, and how to be at the front of the queue on 28 October rather than scrambling in January.

What's in the £1bn package

It isn't one grant. It's three, stacked.

1. The Depot Charging Scheme (DCS). A £170 million multi-year programme running April 2026 to 2030. Window 1 (£28 million) closed 30 June 2026. Window 2 has £38 million, opens 28 October 2026, closes 29 January 2027. The scheme funds 70% of chargepoint and civil costs, up to £1 million per applicant across all your sites. That's not £1m per charger. That's £1m across your whole estate.

2. The Plug-In Truck Grant. Up to £81,000 off a new electric HGV, weight-banded — bigger truck, bigger discount. This is the discount that turns the eye-watering capex on an electric tractor unit into something a finance director will actually sign off.

3. The Plug-In Van Grant. Up to £5,000 off per electric van, weight-banded. Less dramatic, but at fleet scale it adds up fast — fifty vans, that's £250,000 of subsidy.

Who qualifies (and who quietly doesn't)

The DCS eligibility traps:

• You must be registered and operating in the UK
• You must have been trading in the UK for at least 12 months at the time of application
• You must own or lease the depot
• Your fleet must include — or plan to include — at least one battery-electric van, HGV or coach
• The funded infrastructure must be primarily used by commercial vehicles, not staff cars

That "primarily" word is doing a lot of heavy lifting. Mixed-use depots can apply, but you'll need to demonstrate commercial-vehicle priority in the application.

What "70% up to £1m" looks like in practice

Pick a mid-size logistics depot — 30 vans, 4 trucks, currently diesel. You want to electrify in two phases over 18 months.

Indicative project cost:

• 30 × 22kW twin AC chargers + civils + DNO upgrade: ~£280,000
• 6 × 150kW DC chargers + civils + transformer upgrade: ~£620,000
• Total: £900,000

Grant at 70%: £630,000 back. Your net spend: £270,000 for an EV-ready depot that, on current diesel prices, will pay for itself on fuel alone in under four years.

Add the truck grants (4 × £81,000 = £324,000 off vehicle capex), and the project arithmetic stops looking like a sustainability concession and starts looking like negligence if you don't apply.

Why you cannot afford to miss window 2

Window 1 applicants who won are already booking installers for 2027. If you miss window 2 (closes 29 January 2027), the next opportunity funds projects starting a year later — a year behind on capacity, a year behind on operational savings, and a year deeper into ZEV mandate exposure (currently sitting at a 24% target vs an industry-actual 9.4% on vans).

Capacity will get scarcer, not cheaper. The good installers are already partially booked for next year.

What you need to put together before 28 October

A strong DCS application needs:

1. A site list with grid-connection data and intended charger spec per site
2. A delivery timeline the panel believes (under-promise; they reject fantasy timelines)
3. A vehicle deployment plan that ties the chargers to actual operational use
4. Match-funding evidence — they want to see the 30% you're putting up
5. Half-hourly meter data for the past 12 months
6. DNO pre-application correspondence for any site needing a connection upgrade

If you have all six already, you're ahead of most applicants. If you have none, you're at least three weeks from a submission-ready bid — and item 6 can take longer than that on its own. Start now, submit on day one of the window.

What we do, briefly

We bundle the DCS application with the site survey and the build plan. You get one project manager, one document set, one timeline. If we don't think you'll win the grant, we'll tell you in week one — and won't take the project.

The short version

£1 billion is real money. £170 million is set aside for depot charging specifically. 70% of project cost up to £1 million is genuinely generous. Window 2 opens 28 October 2026 with £38m and closes 29 January 2027 — earlier if oversubscribed, which it will be. Most fleets won't apply. Some will, and the ones who do will be better-equipped, lower-cost-to-operate, and more attractive to tenders for the next decade.

Want us to scope a DCS-ready application for your depot? Model your fleet TCO or check your grant eligibility — we'll come back inside five working days with a yes/no on whether you'll win the grant, and a project plan if we think you will.

Don't wait for the window to open. The queue forms now.