Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps the Government are taking to encourage drivers in England to switch from using diesel vehicles to more environmentally sustainable vehicles.

We are going further and faster to decarbonise transport by phasing out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030, and, from 2035, all new cars and vans must be zero emissions at the tailpipe. We have committed £2.5 billion to support the uptake of zero emission vehicles and accelerate rollout of electric vehicle chargepoints in drivers’ homes, on residential streets and workplaces. The Government has also put in place a favourable taxation model that rewards the cleanest vehicles.

In May 2020, we published an ambitious vision for rapid charging infrastructure along strategic roads in England over the next decade which sets out the number of rapid chargepoints that will be located across motorways and major A roads to meet the future demand for electric vehicles. Further, we plan to support people to charge their cars at home by ensuring new homes are electric vehicle ready. We have consulted on plans to introduce a requirement for every new home to have a chargepoint, where there is an associated car parking space. We will publish our response to the consultation soon and aim to lay regulation in Parliament in 2021. We have also committed £90 million to fund local EV charging infrastructure, to support the roll out of larger, on-street charging schemes and rapid hubs in England.