The Depot Charging Scheme offers vital funding for van fleets, yet many risk missing out due to grid connection delays. Lee Ackerman from Connectus Utilities outlines critical strategies for fleet managers on bridging the gap between funding and energising their depots on time.

The Government’s £170m Depot Charging Scheme (DCS) comes at a critical time for those operating with van or light truck fleets. With grants covering up to 70% of infrastructure costs (capped at £1m per business), it takes care of one of the single biggest capital hurdles to electrifying LCV fleets.

Getting an application submitted in Window 1 may feel like clearing the biggest hurdle for many fleet managers. But in reality, securing the grant is just the start of a much more complex civil engineering process.

The catch comes down to what the funding actually covers. While the DCS pays for onsite civil works, trenching and installing hardware, it excludes off-site distribution network operator (DNO) grid upgrades and external network reinforcement.

With award decisions expected in September 2026 and a firm project completion deadline of 31 March 2027, van operators are tight for time. If your site lacks the electrical capacity to power those new chargers, and DNO lead times stretch past 12 months, you risk forfeiting the grant allocation altogether.

The coincident charging problem

Most fleet directors know that running a bank of 50kW fast chargers demands serious power. What often gets overlooked is how quickly coincident charging erodes local site headroom.

When 15 or 20 delivery vans return to base and plug in at the same time, it creates an enormous peak demand spike. Standard industrial unit substations simply weren’t designed for that level of instant draw.

If that peak draw exceeds what your local network can handle, the DNO must step in with upstream grid reinforcement, upgrading nearby transformers, installing higher-rated cabling, or re-routing high-voltage lines.

The issue is that DNO lead times for off-site reinforcement routinely take anywhere from six to 24 months. As offsite costs fall outside of the DCS grant scope, finding out you have a capacity shortfall in September leaves almost zero margin to get power turned on before the March deadline.

What van fleets should do today

Operators who have submitted applications or are preparing for upcoming funding windows need to take a few practical steps right away:

• Audit the physical site layout early: Look hard at cable routes, transformer locations and space for charging bays. Underground trenching over long distances quickly inflates civil costs and delays delivery.
• Check incoming supply panels and transformer headroom: Establish your exact peak load and spare capacity before locking in charger specs.
• Look at actual van dwell times: Calculate when vans return and how long they sit idle for. Specifying oversized hardware based on peak potential rather than actual operational need is the fastest way to trigger an unnecessary grid upgrade request.

Establishing grid viability

Getting on the front foot with grid capacity keeps electrification moving. Reaching out to the DNO or an independent utility consultant early lets you secure point of connection (POC) designs and formal connection offers upfront.

A formal DNO assessment confirms how much headroom exists on the high-voltage network and gives you a realistic answer on whether any required utility works can actually be completed before the March cutoff.

Options if you hit a grid delay

If the DNO confirms a long grid delay is unavoidable, your LCV rollout – or DCS grant – doesn’t have to pause completely. A few smart infrastructure alternatives can help maximise your existing supply and bypass network delays:

• Dynamic load management (DLM): Software monitors total depot draw in real-time, reducing charger output when necessary so you can charge a larger van fleet on a smaller connection.
• On-site battery storage (BESS): Batteries let you trickle-charge off-peak (or from solar) and use that power to charge vans during peak return windows.
• Phased groundworks: Design the utility groundwork for your end-state fleet size now, but only energise the sockets needed for your immediate LCV intake.

Securing a grant without a clear utility delivery plan is a major risk. By auditing depots today and managing grid headroom sensibly, LCV operators can navigate these constraints and ensure government funding translates into charged, operational vans on the road.

Lee Ackerman is general manager at Connectus Utilities, a multi-utility connections and metering consultancy that forms part of the wider Consultus group.

With over a decade of experience in the energy sector, Ackerman combines a mechanical engineering background with project management experience to support multi-utility infrastructure schemes. Services range from connections, relocations and disconnections across electricity, gas, water, telecoms, sewerage and other utilities.