PETROL and diesel lorries could be banned as part of Labour’s Net Zero drive.
Ministers have confirmed they only want to see all-electric heavy goods vehicles on the roads by 2040.
A document published last week revealed one option would be for manufacturers to have annual quotas on numbers of electric lorries they must sell.
It also said haulage companies should be set ever-decreasing carbon emission caps similar to the EU.
The final option was to have an increasing number of electric vehicles in fleets eventually reaching 100 per cent.
But Shadow Transport Secretary Richard Holden said: “Labour are sleepwalking into a cost shock for the entire economy.
He said that forcing haulage firms to scrap perfectly good lorries while they can still run for years and replace them with other vehicles will drive up costs.
He added the costs will be passed straight on to consumers and lead to higher prices in shops, higher construction costs and more pressure on inflation.
Transport Minister Keir Mather said he understood the “challenging” conditions.
He wrote that the government was firmly committed to phase out the sale of all new non-zero emission heavy goods vehicles by 2040.
