Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to make the UK a world leader in electric car manufacturing.

The Government has a long-standing programme of support to maintain the competitiveness of the UK automotive sector. The Government and industry have committed around £1 billion over 10 years to 2023 through the Advanced Propulsion Centre. We have also committed £318 million to the Faraday Battery Challenge and £80 million towards the ‘Driving the Electric Revolution Challenge’.

In addition, we have announced up to £1 billion through the Automotive Transformation Fund to develop UK supply chains for the large-scale production of Electric Vehicles (EVs) and for further research and development (R&D). An initial £10 million of funding will enable the first wave of innovative R&D projects to scale-up manufacturing of the latest technology in batteries, motors, electronics, and fuel cells. The Government is also encouraging industry to put forward investment proposals for gigafactories and to support supply chains to mass manufacture cutting-edge batteries for the next generation of EVs, as well as for other strategic EV technologies.

The UK is a global leader in the development and manufacture of EVs with various manufacturers already producing EVs in the UK. In 2019, the UK was the third largest market for Ultra Low Emission Vehicles in Europe and there are currently over 300,000 ultra-low emission vehicles registered in the UK. We are determined to ensure that the UK continues to be one of the most competitive locations in the world for the automotive sector and will continue to work closely with the automotive industry to ensure success.