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Fleet industry news round up January

30th January 2026

Industry wrap-up:

Firstly, we will reflect on the Autumn Budget announcement in November to remind you of the upcoming tax changes fleets and their drivers will face in 2026.

Firstly, we will reflect back to the Autumn Budget announcement in November, to remind you of the upcoming tax changes fleets and their drivers will now face in 2026.

 

  • Benefit in Kind (BIK) Tax:

This will increase for company car drivers by one percentage point from April 2026, with electric cars attracting a BIK rate of 4% in 2026/27. This increases the monthly cost for a basic-rate taxpayer with a £40,000 electric car from £20 to £26.67.

  • Nominal CO2 emissions rate for PHEVS.

The Government is introducing a nominal CO2 emissions rate for plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) impacted by a new emissions test, Euro 6e-bis.

  • Changes to Vehicle Excise Duty (VED)

VED will increase in line with inflation from April 2026.

The Treasury has also increased the threshold for when EVs incur the expensive car supplement from £40,000 to £50,000.

  • Fuel duty increases.

As announced in the Autumn Budget, fuel duty will be frozen at its current rate until September 2026.
From 1 September 2025, fuel duty will increase by 1p, then by a further 2p from 1 December 2026, and by another 2p from 1 March 2027.

 

  • Van benefit charge and fuel benefit charges

Currently, the van benefit charge is set at £4,020, the car fuel benefit multiplier at £28,200, and the van fuel benefit at £769 for 2025/26

From April 2026, the flat-rate van benefit charge will increase to £4,170 and the multiplier for the car fuel benefit will increase to £29,200.

The flat-rate van fuel benefit charge will increase to £798.

 

  • First year allowances.

The Government has introduced a 40% first-year capital allowance for leased vans from this month (January).

Under previous rules, leased vehicles were excluded from first-year allowances, meaning businesses that leased vans missed out on the tax advantages available to companies purchasing outright under the full-expensing regime. This new measure closes that gap.

  • New electric vehicle tax

While not due to take effect until 2028, the Government is drawing up plans to introduce a new pay-per-mile tax for EVs, including PHEVs. 

The new electric vehicle excise duty (eVED) was announced in the Budget (Opens in new window) and will be set at 3ppm for BEVs and 1.5ppm for PHEVs. 

There is also a consultation on the proposed new tax, which you can find out more about here. (Opens in new window)

The public charging network added over 14,000 new charge devices over the year.

Statistics taken from the Zapmap database at the end of December 2025 show that a total of 87,796 public charge devices were available across the UK, representing 116,052 individual connectors at 45,033 locations.

Growth was strongest among ultra-rapid chargers, which increased by 41% by December 2025.

Additionally, there has been a 39% increase in charging hubs over the year. These are defined as sites with six or more rapid or ultra-rapid devices.

Coventry, Birmingham and Swansea are leading the growth in new charging devices. Coventry has seen an increase of more than 11 times in five years, from 203 charge devices to 2,578 in 2025. Birmingham has also seen an eleven-fold increase, and Swansea has seen an eight-fold increase over the past five years.

The EU’s “New Vehicle General Safety Regulation”, also known as GSR2 or Regulation (EU) 2019/2144, amended the minimum performance standards for vehicles sold within the EU and Northern Ireland, mandating certain advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) from July 2024.

As part of the Government’s new road safety strategy, it has launched a consultation on mandating these vehicle technologies in GB type approval. The GB type approval scheme applies to manufacturers looking to market or register whole vehicles and components in Great Britain. The scheme is based on EU legislation, as it was assimilated into UK law following the EU exit (Brexit).

Currently, the GB type approval scheme applies only to motor vehicles and trailers in the M, N and O vehicle categories, as well as the vehicle systems and components relating to these categories.

The Government is proposing to mandate 18 of the 19 GSR2 safety technologies for manufacturers seeking GB type approval for mass-produced vehicles. Over a 15-year period, it estimates the new technology has the potential to prevent more than 758,000 collisions and 65,000 casualties.

A list of the new technologies being considered for inclusion in future vehicle designs can be found  here (Opens in new window).

The DfT’s climate adaption strategy for transport, aims to set up resilience standards designed to prepare the UK transport system for future increased flooding, heatwaves and storms by 2030. The strategy will work to improve the resilience of roads, rail, aviation and maritime networks as climate impacts increasingly affect reliability, safety and operating costs.

Disruption from extreme weather is already influencing performance and investments across transport, with growing flood risks to the network- 38% of roads in England is already at risk, this is projected to rise to 46% by 2050. Additionally, between 2006 and 2021 weather related incidents cost Network Rial over £1 billion in compensation payments. Moreover The Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs’ (Defra) (Opens in new window) data on the winter floods between 2013 to 2014, shows that this caused significant disruption to the Strategic Road Network, with costs estimated to be £180 million.

Key commitment of the resilience strategy includes stronger national objectives for climate adaptation and the introduction of climate resilience standards by 2030, in line with the Government’s wider 10-year infrastructure strategy. The DfT will provide £1bn in funding for local highway enhancement projects to repair ageing assets such as bridges and tunnels and improve resilience to flooding and heat damage.

National Highways is also expected to expand climate adaptation measures within the third Road Investment Strategy that runs up to March 2031, with a stronger emphasis on long-term risk planning. 

The Road Haulage Association (RHA) has launched a new compliance guide (Opens in new window) designed to support van operators navigating an increasingly complex regulatory environment.

The RHA Van Standard targets businesses operating goods vehicles up to 3.5 tonnes, including those that primarily run HGV fleets but rely on vans to support local, time-critical or specialist work.

In recent years, van operators have faced growing regulatory pressure, increased Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) enforcement activity, and confusion over how the rules apply. The new standard sets out industry best practice and the expectations of a professional van operator. It also brings together the key areas that operators need to manage effectively, such as driver requirements, vehicle maintenance, employment contracts, health and safety, working time and tachographs.

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