New analysis of government vehicle licensing data reveals a sharp divide between urban and rural local authorities in the shift away from traditional fuels – with infrastructure, not intention, emerging as the defining factor.
Company vehicle fleets represent a significant share of the UK’s total transport emissions, making their fuel composition a meaningful indicator of progress toward national net-zero targets. A new study by Ovoko, a major European marketplace for used car parts, analysed UK government vehicle licensing data from Q2 2024 and Q2 2025 to map how fleet fuel types vary across local authorities – and the results reveal a country at two very different stages of transition.
Kazimieras Urbonas, Supplier Excellence Manager at Ovoko, summarises the picture plainly. “The data reveals a transport system at two very different stages of transition. Urban fleet operators have access to infrastructure that makes hybrid vehicles practical. For rural businesses, the calculation looks completely different.”
The authorities leading hybrid adoption
Windsor and Maidenhead tops the national rankings with 41.81 percent of its company fleet vehicles classified as hybrid electric – a figure that stands well above the national average and points to a combination of supportive infrastructure, shorter average journey distances, and the operational conditions that make alternative fuels viable for fleet managers.
Portsmouth follows in second place at 38.04 percent, with Bracknell Forest third at 34.59 percent. The gap between first and third is just over seven percentage points, suggesting a cluster of genuinely high-performing authorities rather than a single outlier.
London boroughs feature prominently throughout the top twenty. Hammersmith and Fulham (30.44 percent), Newham (26.14 percent), Hillingdon (25.44 percent), Redbridge (25.14 percent), Barnet (24.51 percent), Waltham Forest (24.00 percent), and Barking and Dagenham (21.67 percent) all appear in the rankings. The concentration of capital boroughs reflects the combined effect of established charging infrastructure, clean air zone requirements, and the shorter urban journey distances that suit hybrid powertrains.
Outside London, Leicester (27.24 percent), Blackpool (25.29 percent), and Leeds (22.30 percent) perform strongly – cities where urban density, progressive environmental policies, and improving charging networks have created conditions that make the operational case for hybrid vehicles increasingly compelling for fleet operators.
Where traditional fuels still dominate
At the opposite end of the spectrum, the picture is starkly different. Orkney Islands records the highest diesel and petrol dependency in the country, with 95.24 percent of company vehicles still running on traditional fuels. The remote island geography presents challenges that are not simply a matter of policy: limited charging infrastructure, longer distances between potential charging points, and the operational requirement for vehicles that can reliably complete full working days without access to a charge make battery-dependent technology a practical risk in ways that urban fleet managers rarely face.
Harborough and Mid Suffolk are tied at 95.05 percent diesel and petrol dependency, followed by Mole Valley at 94.34 percent and the Cotswolds at 94.10 percent. The pattern across the bottom of the hybrid adoption table is consistent: predominantly rural areas, dispersed populations, longer average journey requirements, and charging infrastructure that has not kept pace with urban provision.
Mid Devon (94.05 percent), Derbyshire Dales (93.40 percent), Stroud (93.28 percent), and East Cambridgeshire (92.58 percent) all record internal combustion engine dependency above 92 percent. Notably, even authorities with some proximity to urban centres – Warwick at 92.90 percent, Darlington at 92.62 percent, and Chesterfield at 93.99 percent – maintain high traditional fuel shares, suggesting that geographic adjacency to cities does not in itself drive adoption without the supporting infrastructure.
The challenge extends across national borders within the UK. Aberdeenshire records 91.87 percent diesel and petrol dependency, and Powys in Wales sits at 92.00 percent – underscoring that the rural infrastructure gap is a pan-UK issue rather than an English one.
Infrastructure as the deciding factor
Urbonas frames the divide not as a question of environmental commitment but of operational practicality. Fleet managers make decisions based on reliability and cost, and in areas where charging infrastructure is sparse, the business case for hybrid vehicles simply does not yet stack up in the way it does in well-served urban areas.
“A delivery company in Windsor and Maidenhead can rely on a network of charging points and plan routes accordingly,” he said. “A similar business in Orkney faces longer distances, fewer facilities, and the real risk of running out of charge during working hours.”
The implication for policy is direct. Windsor and Maidenhead’s 41 percent hybrid share demonstrates what becomes possible when infrastructure, regulation, and operational conditions align. Replicating that outcome in rural and remote areas requires investment in charging provision that currently does not exist at the density needed to shift the economics for fleet operators.
“Until charging infrastructure reaches rural areas at the same density we see in cities, traditional fuel vehicles will continue to make more business sense in those locations,” Urbonas said. “The 41 percent hybrid share in Windsor and Maidenhead shows what’s possible when conditions are right.”
Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash
For policymakers tracking the UK’s progress toward cleaner transport, the data suggests that national targets will be difficult to meet if the infrastructure gap between urban leaders and rural laggards is not actively addressed – because in fleet management, as in most business decisions, the economics ultimately determine the outcome.
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