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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what plans his Department has to support the domestic exploitation of raw materials for the electric car industry.

The Government recognises the importance of critical raw minerals for the development of zero emission vehicles. We are committed to building an agile, innovative and cost-competitive supply chain for these vehicles in the UK to support our commitment to end the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030.

Batteries for electric vehicles require a range of critical materials, including lithium. Government has supported a number of initiatives to find and use lithium in the UK, including work in Cornwall to develop lithium extraction plants.

The Government is also investing £318m in the Faraday Battery Challenge to put the UK at the global forefront of the design, development, manufacturing, and recycling of electric batteries. In addition, the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) aims to develop and embed at pace the next generation of cutting-edge zero emission automotive technologies in the UK. £500m of funding for the ATF will be made available in the next four years for businesses across the UK to fund investments across the whole supply chain.