Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to support businesses to electrify their road delivery fleet.

We recognise that business fleets have an important role to play in the transition to zero emission driving. A central part to supporting this transition is the recently announced 2030 phase out of new petrol and diesel cars and vans, and the upcoming consultation on phasing out the sale of new diesel heavy goods vehicles.

The Government is investing £2.8 billion through a package of measures to support industry and consumers to make the switch to cleaner vehicles. This includes £582m for grant schemes to help with the cost of purchasing vehicles and £1.3 billion for the associated recharging infrastructure, which supports businesses to make the transition. We are showing leadership by working towards electrifying the Government’s fleet. In 2017 the Government committed that 25% of central Government cars will be ultra low emission by 2022, and in 2018 through the Road to Zero strategy committed to 100% ultra low emission cars by 2030.

The Government has funded a series of R&D competitions, focussed on developing zero emission vehicle and associated infrastructure technology, including seeking solutions to electrify fleets and improve fleet charging capability. The £20m Low Emission Freight and Logistics Trial funded a series of industry-led trials of alternative propulsion technologies for UK commercial fleets. Other R&D programmes supporting fleet electrification include the £10m Wireless EV Charging for Commercial Users competition to examine the potential of wireless charging technology for taxi and home delivery fleets.