Asked by: Theresa Villiers (Conservative - Chipping Barnet)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to help ensure that users of electric bikes classed as a motorcycle or moped comply with legal requirements on (a) registration, (b) taxation, (c) holding a driving licence and (d) wearing a helmet; and whether he has had discussions with the (i) Secretary of State for the Home Department and (ii) individual police forces on enforcement of those requirements.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
All electric bikes and similar vehicles that do not meet the requirements of the Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycles Regulations (1983), as amended, are motor vehicles, and must fully comply with all of the normal requirements such as MOT, tax, insurance, helmets etc.
Enforcement is a matter for the police.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of changes to vehicle tax for electric and low emissions vehicles from 1 April 2025 on the number of purchases of those vehicles.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
From April 2025, electric and hybrid cars, vans and motorcycles will begin to pay VED in the same way as petrol and diesel vehicles. The anticipated impact is summarised in the Policy Costings document that was published alongside Autumn Statement 2022, and can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/6375caf8e90e072848403c47/Autumn_Statement_2022_Policy_Costings_.pdf (p. 24).
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate he has made of the number of (a) new and (b) used electric vehicles bought in the last 12 months.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In the 12 months from October 2022 to September 2023 inclusive (the latest period for which published data are available), there were 357,021 new registrations of battery electric vehicles in the UK. The total number of new registrations for all fuel types in this same period was 2,413,737.
These data are published in table VEH1153 available here, and a full 2023 update will be available later this month:
https://www.gov.uk/government/statistical-data-sets/vehicle-licensing-statistics-data-tables
The department does not hold data on the number of used vehicle sales.
Asked by: Lord Taylor of Warwick (Non-affiliated - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to ensure that the transition to electric vehicles supports the automotive industry.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government continues to engage extensively with the automotive industry to ensure the transition supports the sector.
Government has already spent over £2 billion to support the transition to ZEVs. This funding has focused on reducing barriers to the adoption of such vehicles to support demand, including offsetting their higher upfront cost, and accelerating the rollout of chargepoint infrastructure. The Government’s plug-in vehicle grants, favourable benefit in kind tax rates and generous tax incentives also remain in place to encourage the uptake of ZEVs.
As part of the Advanced Manufacturing Plan, the Government has also announced over £2 billion of capital and research and development funding to 2030, to further boost the UK’s competitiveness and unlock strategic investments in the automotive industry.
Asked by: Jack Brereton (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent South)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing funding for an awareness campaign to help tackle negative perceptions over the long-term (a) viability and (b) reliability of second-hand electric vehicles.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Alongside government, industry plays an important role in communicating factual information on EVs and charging infrastructure to consumers. That is why in the Plan for Drivers, the Government committed to working with industry to address common misconceptions around electric vehicles (EVs) and communicate the many benefits of transitioning to EVs, both new and used.
In February, the Government published information on EVs, including used vehicles, and EV charging infrastructure. The Government is also taking proactive action to counter inaccurate information presented by the media on the subject of EVs, when this arises.
Asked by: Jack Brereton (Conservative - Stoke-on-Trent South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of reintroducing the expensive car supplement for electric vehicles at a higher threshold in the context of their relative price compared to petrol and diesel vehicles.
Answered by Gareth Davies - Exchequer Secretary (HM Treasury)
As with all taxes, the Government keeps the Expensive Car Supplement under review, and any changes will be announced at a future fiscal event.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the use of fuel and energy consumption data to ensure that CO2 emissions and fuel or energy consumption values remain representative of real-world emissions over time for manufacturers of new passenger cars and new light commercial vehicles, as required by EU Regulation 2019/631.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department is considering how to collect real-world CO2 emissions data, including consulting on whether such data should be captured through the MOT, and will continue to engage with interested parties as the methodology is finalised. The data collection methodology must be finalised before the first annual report can be produced.
The Department will assess real-world representativeness of CO2 emissions and fuel or energy consumption values, once the methodology for collecting real-world data has been agreed with industry and subsequently introduced into law.
The Department is considering how fuel and energy consumption data could inform amendments to type approval testing procedures and certificates for petrol and diesel cars and light commercial vehicles. Specifically on plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, the Department intends to update the calculation procedure for their carbon dioxide emissions to respond to the widely recognised gap in their real-world emissions performance compared to official approval values. This will be consulted on in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government when they will publish their first annual report on how the real-world emissions gap will be addressed for the period 2021 to 2026, as required by EU Regulation 2019/631 on setting performance standards for new passenger cars and new light commercial vehicles.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department is considering how to collect real-world CO2 emissions data, including consulting on whether such data should be captured through the MOT, and will continue to engage with interested parties as the methodology is finalised. The data collection methodology must be finalised before the first annual report can be produced.
The Department will assess real-world representativeness of CO2 emissions and fuel or energy consumption values, once the methodology for collecting real-world data has been agreed with industry and subsequently introduced into law.
The Department is considering how fuel and energy consumption data could inform amendments to type approval testing procedures and certificates for petrol and diesel cars and light commercial vehicles. Specifically on plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, the Department intends to update the calculation procedure for their carbon dioxide emissions to respond to the widely recognised gap in their real-world emissions performance compared to official approval values. This will be consulted on in due course.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the real-world representativeness of the CO2 emissions and fuel or energy consumption values of new passenger cars and new light commercial vehicles, as required by the Article 12(1) of EU Regulation 2019/631.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department is considering how to collect real-world CO2 emissions data, including consulting on whether such data should be captured through the MOT, and will continue to engage with interested parties as the methodology is finalised. The data collection methodology must be finalised before the first annual report can be produced.
The Department will assess real-world representativeness of CO2 emissions and fuel or energy consumption values, once the methodology for collecting real-world data has been agreed with industry and subsequently introduced into law.
The Department is considering how fuel and energy consumption data could inform amendments to type approval testing procedures and certificates for petrol and diesel cars and light commercial vehicles. Specifically on plug-in hybrid electric vehicles, the Department intends to update the calculation procedure for their carbon dioxide emissions to respond to the widely recognised gap in their real-world emissions performance compared to official approval values. This will be consulted on in due course.
Asked by: Ian Lavery (Labour - Wansbeck)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department has taken to find an alternative producer of batteries for electric vehicles for the vacant Cambois site since the collapse of Britishvolt and Recharge Industries.
Answered by Alan Mak - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
The administration is a matter solely for the administrators. The Government has no formal role in the process.
There are a number of factors that investors take into account when deciding on the location of a gigafactory, but ultimately this remains a commercial matter.
We continue to work with industry via the Automotive Transformation Fund (ATF) to support the creation of an internationally competitive zero emission vehicle supply chain in the UK, including gigafactories.
As part of the Advanced Manufacturing Plan, we have announced over £2bn of capital and R&D funding over five years to 2030 in zero emission vehicles, batteries and the wider supply chain, boosting the UK’s competitiveness and unlocking strategic investments in our automotive industry.