White Van Plan

What is the project about?

Small to medium-sized enterprises (which are companies with fewer than 250 employees) are the backbone of our economy. Across the UK, there are nearly six million small companies employing over 16 million people. SMEs account for 60% of the employment and half of turnover in the UK private sector. There are more than two million small businesses in our areas alone.

While people working at SMEs are our customers as electricity consumers, we still don’t have a detailed picture of their needs, views and routines when it comes to transport. We know that electric vehicles will play a crucial role in reaching the UK’s 2050 Net Zero carbon emissions target, but we don’t yet know how small companies will adapt.

We want to do everything we can to support small companies if they choose to make the switch, so we’ve launched the White Van Plan research project to work more closely with SMEs, learn how they use transport, and investigate potential technical and commercial solutions that will help facilitate the electric vehicle revolution.

As part of the project, we want to hear from small businesses from all backgrounds and sectors, whether they use vans, trucks, or passenger vehicles for their business.