Found: accessed 15 July 2020 40 SMMT ( EVP0136 )41 Department for Transport ( EVP0120 )42 UIN 178600 , (on Electric

Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps she is taking to implement third-party certification to ensure e-bikes, e-scooters and their batteries are approved by an independent body before being available for sale.

Answered by Kevin Hollinrake - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade)

The Government takes consumer protection very seriously and is concerned about the frequency of fires linked to lithium-ion batteries found in e-bikes and e-scooters. Products must be safe before being placed on the UK market.

Working across Government we are taking action against unsafe products and have issued guidance on the safe use of these products. We are also seeking to better understand the root causes of these incidents and have commissioned research from the Warwick Manufacturing Group (part of Warwick University).

This research will help inform the position moving forward including the interaction between batteries and chargers, and the suitability of third-party conformity assessment to tackle this complex issue.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what (a) market surveys and (b) other research his Department conducted before setting mandatory percentages for future electric vehicle sales.

Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)

The Department for Transport consulted three times on the design of a zero emission vehicle mandate, including the zero emission vehicle targets for cars and vans. Manufacturers representing 96% of new cars sold in the UK and 95% of new vans were engaged as part of this process and gave detailed feedback. A full cost benefit analysis was published alongside the final consultation in March 2023, with a revised final cost benefit analysis published in October 2023 alongside the Vehicle Emissions Trading Schemes Order 2023.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the Office for Budget Responsibility's publication entitled What does faster take-up of electric cars mean for tax receipts, published in March 2022, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of raising targets in the ZEV mandate to reflect the OBR's forecast for electric car sales.

Answered by James Cartlidge - Minister of State (Ministry of Defence)

The government is fully supportive of the transition to electric vehicles. The government is analysing responses to the technical consultation on zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate policy design, and will bring forward the Government’s response, and a full regulatory proposal and cost benefit analysis, in due course.

Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to estimates that new electric vehicle registrations for 2022 could reach 16 per cent, what plans they have, if any, to raise their target proposed in the Technical consultation on zero emission vehicle mandate policy design, published in April, that new electric vehicle sales should account for 22 per cent of total vehicle sales by 2024.

Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)

The technical consultation on the design of the ZEV mandate, setting out initial ZEV target trajectories of 22% for cars, and 8% for vans, closed on 10 June. We are now analysing consultation responses, and will bring forward the Government’s response, and a full regulatory proposal, in due course