Heavy Goods Vehicle Market Readiness Fund

Heavy goods vehicles make up the majority of heavy duty vehicles in Scotland. In 2023, there were approximately 36,500 HGVs registered in Scotland, making up around 1.2% of total road vehicles registered in Scotland however they account for roughly 12.8% of total transport emissions.

In 2023, an estimated 118 million tonnes of goods were lifted within Scotland by UK HGVs and transported to destinations within Scotland and about 16 million tonnes of goods from Scotland were delivered to destinations elsewhere in the UK. 

The majority of HGV operators in Scotland have 0-2 vehicles registered on their license and therefore do not have large amounts of capital to invest in the transition to zero emission vehicles. The private sector is willing to invest in zero emission HGVs, but public funding will be needed to help the sector get over some of the initial capital costs and absorb some risk of new fleets of vehicles and their supporting charging infrastructure.

The HGV pathway acknowledges the need for new financing and business models for the electrification of heavy duty vehicle fleets and the development of their supporting infrastructure. 

 The HGV Decarbonisation Pathway for Scotland committed various stakeholders to different actions to increase the speed of decarbonisation of the heavy duty vehicle (HDV) sector.

The Scottish Government is delivering on its actions in the Pathway; having hosted a financing forum to bring together HDV and HGV operators with finance, energy and leasing organisations who are developing products to invest in zero emission vehicles. 

The financing forum was held on the 19th of March 2025 in Glasgow. 26 organisations attended including sovereign banks, financial institutions, chargepoint operators, fleets, manufacturers and traditional financiers and novel/new financiers. Following this, Transport Scotland has continued to work and engage with those stakeholders interested to work together with key partners in the sector to develop investment opportunities into vehicles and infrastructure in Scotland.  

The HGV Market Readiness Fund will deliver support to the HGV sector over 2025-2026. The fund aims to reduce the complexities around the transition for fleets in Scotland in the short term and develop market readiness for accelerated future uptake of zero emission vehicles and infrastructure. 

The total funding available is £2 million and it will be administered by the Environment, Climate and Sustainability directorate in Transport Scotland. The fund is broken down into two strands: 

• SME Fleet Analysis Support (£1 million)
• HGV Consortium Builder (£1 million) 

If you have any questions regarding the funding, please contact: fleetsandinfrastructure@transport.gov.scot

The funding is designed to support Scotland’s HGV SME and micro-business fleets to better understand their pathways to decarbonisation. Financial support is being offered to help hauliers assess their current and future fleet plans, what viable technologies, grid-connections, routes, infrastructure and vehicles best suit their operational needs. SME fleets in Scotland will be facilitated to seek support from project or fleet management professionals to fully explore their options to decarbonising their fleets. 

It is expected that the funding will produce a report which is shared with the haulier and with Transport Scotland. If the report contains commercially sensitive information a publishable version is expected in addition to the main report which can be shared with other fleets in order to support sector-wide understanding and confidence in the transition. 

Applications can be submitted at any point throughout the application window to fleetsandinfrastructure@transport.gov.scot

From the point of a Grant Offer Letter being issued, the Grantee will have approximately 12 weeks to complete the report. All funding must be claimed before 31 March 2026.

Applications can be submitted at any point throughout the application window to FleetsandInfrastructure@transport.gov.scot. All funding must be claimed before 31 March 2026.

This funding aims to, through collaborative working between HGV sector partners, identify a business case for investment into zero emission HGVs and associated charging infrastructure in Scotland. This business case will identify how support from Government can be leveraged against private sector investment. 

The fund aims to: 

1. Support operators of all sizes to work together and with the private sector to identify how to generate investment into HGV decarbonisation in Scotland. 
2. Support HGV operators to access expertise, analysis and resources to understand what is needed to decarbonise their fleets in a sustainable way.
3. Develop a shared strategic understanding between government and the haulage sector of which regions, routes, and supporting financial models would be most effective in achieving this.
4. Generate an evidence base of what type of investment (public and private) is required and where this can be targeted to unlock HGV decarbonisation over the next 3-5 years. 

Consortia awarded funding under this scheme will be expected to provide two key deliverables by March 2026: 

1. Consortium building: A developing consortium of fleets, financiers, chargepoint operators and other key stakeholders; 
2. Business Case: A business case which identifies investment opportunities for battery electric HGVs and infrastructure in Scotland.