For many sole traders covering under 100 miles a day, an electric van can make strong business sense — but only if a few key conditions are met.

What makes it work:

  • Electric vans incur much lower “fuel” costs if you can charge them at your property, particularly when using discount EV charging tariffs.

  • They avoid or reduce charges in urban areas such as Clean Air Zones or ULEZ, which is a real advantage for trades doing local work.

  • Government incentives still support electric van adoption with the plug-in van and truck grant extended to at least 2027. There ar grants, tax-reliefs and improved allowances for business-use.

  • If you return to base nightly and do predictable daily routes (<100 miles), range anxiety and charging logistics become manageable.

What to check / watch out for:

  • Up-front purchase cost is typically higher than an equivalent diesel van; you need to model pay-back through running cost savings.

  • Charging infrastructure: Do you have reliable overnight charging at base or home? Public charging is very costly by comparison.

  • Payload and suitability: Some electric vans may sacrifice payload or load space compared with diesel equivalents (check spec).

  • If your operations are rural or involve large mileage spikes, the electric option might not yet deliver full flexibility.

Verdict:
If your business is UK-based, does consistent sub-100-mile daily usage, returns to base for charging, works in or near urban zones and is looking to reduce operating costs long-term, then yes — an electric van is worth it. If your patterns involve heavy loads, long day ranges or unreliable charging, you’ll need to run the numbers carefully.