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

To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the case for production of a standardised formula for assessing vehicular carbon footprint in manufacture to produce a reliable comparative assessment system for the vehicle market.

Vehicle manufacture is a global industry and consequently, there is no agreed approach that can be used to inform consumers of the comparative carbon footprint of the production of different vehicles. The Government does not currently have any plans to inform consumers about the comparative carbon footprint generated by different electric vehicles in their production. We expect the transition to zero emission motoring to be industry-led, supported by measures set out in our Road to Zero strategy.

In 2018, the Department for Transport developed the Transport Energy Model. This was published alongside the Road to Zero strategy to provide a clear assessment of the relative environmental impacts of different road vehicle technologies and fuels. The Model showed that UK battery electric vehicles have substantially lower greenhouse gas emissions than conventional vehicles, even when accounting for the energy mix of the electricity to charge the battery, as well as the electricity used for battery production.

Electric vehicle emission values are highly dependent on the electricity mix of the country in which the vehicle is charged, and the country in which the vehicle, battery, and other parts are manufactured. Emission values will also vary according to model type, car size, and miles driven. To obtain full environmental benefits, electric vehicles and their batteries need to be manufactured using electricity from carbon-free sources.