Asked by: Gregory Campbell (Democratic Unionist Party - East Londonderry)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will hold discussions with of manufacturers of electronic vehicles on estimates of mileage ranges achievable in new vehicles.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Ministers regularly meet vehicle manufactures to discuss regulatory requirements – including those that set out how to establish official electric vehicle range figures.
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 case for designating a standard sign for use on highways to indicate the location of electric vehicles charging stations; and whether they have any plans to initiate such a scheme.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has published guidance on the design and use of a standard sign indicating the location of on-street EV charging bays, and conditions of their use, in the Traffic Signs Manual.
The Government recognises that traffic authorities must strike an appropriate balance between the provision of adequate information and over-provision of traffic signs. The Department’s guidance should help traffic authorities deliver this balance.
Best practice guidance regarding the provision of signage for EV chargepoints has also been included in Publicly Available Standard (PAS) 1899, published by the British Standards Institution in 2022.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Business and Trade:
To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps her Department is taking to promote the development of a domestic battery industry.
Answered by Nusrat Ghani - Minister of State (Minister for Europe)
We continue to work with industry via the Automotive Transformation Fund to support the creation of an internationally competitive electric vehicle supply chain in the UK, including gigafactories. With Government support, completion of AESC’s second Sunderland gigafactory and Tata-Agratas' £4bn gigafactory announcement will increase the UK’s committed battery capacity to over half of estimated 2030 demand.
We are also investing record sums in battery R&D through the Faraday Battery Challenge, to establish the UK as a battery science superpower, with £610m committed since 2017.
In November 2023, the Advanced Manufacturing Plan announced over £2bn of capital and R&D funding over five years to 2030, unlocking investment in zero emission vehicles, batteries and the wider supply chain. Alongside the AMP, we published a UK Battery Strategy, which outlined the Government’s vision for the UK to achieve a globally competitive battery supply chain by 2030 that supports economic prosperity and the net zero transition.
Asked by: Mark Garnier (Conservative - Wyre Forest)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to the Answer of 30 January 2024 to Question 11316 on Motorcycles: Carbon Emissions, what engagement his Department plans to undertake with the L-Category industry on the development of EV charging infrastructure in the next six months.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has engaged extensively with the L-Category sector since the publication of the Transport Decarbonisation Plan in July 2021 and will continue to do so to support its transition to zero emission vehicles whenever appropriate.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has had discussions with Nissan following its decision to withdraw app support for older Nissan Leaf and e-NV200 vehicles.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
DfT Ministers regularly discuss a range of issues with automotive manufacturers, including Nissan. However, the Government is not able to comment on individual business matters.
Asked by: Matt Vickers (Conservative - Stockton South)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of raising the luxury vehicles tax threshold for electric 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: Peter Gibson (Conservative - Darlington)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Darlington Borough Council on the adequacy of the provision of on-street charging for electric vehicles in Darlington.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
In March 2023, the Department wrote to all tier one local authorities in England to announce the launch of the £381m Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund. This Fund will enable them to transform the availability of charging infrastructure for drivers without off-street parking in their area.
Tees Valley Combined Authority – which includes Darlington Borough Council – has been allocated £6.6 million in capital funding, and £570,000 in capability funding to recruit dedicated in-house expertise, through the LEVI Fund.
Last year, the LEVI Support Body led communication with local authority applicants, hosted LEVI roadshows across England and developed an EV officer training course to engage, educate and equip those involved in the planning and deployment of EV infrastructure.
The Department and the LEVI Support Body will continue to offer expert advice and support to local authorities, including Tees Valley Combined Authority, throughout the Fund’s timeline.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to mandating a uniform application process for all distribution network operators to reduce costs and delays and to level the playing field for electric vehicle charge point operators.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As set out in the Connections Action Plan, Government is committed to improving the connections process for all customers including electric vehicle chargepoint operators.
In the Connections Action Plan, Ofgem committed to reviewing to end connection process to improve customer experience and ensure network companies provide a more consistent service to customers. This review will explore the incentives and penalties for network companies.
Building on this work, the Grid Connections Review announced in the Plan for Drivers will investigate specific issues the chargepoint sector is facing when looking to reinforce the grid. This includes exploring how we can work with network companies to provide a more consistent application process. The outcomes of the review are expected to be published in Spring 2024.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, pursuant to the Answer of 9 January 2024 to Question 7768 on Oil: Refineries, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the closure of the Grangemouth oil refinery on imports.
Answered by Andrew Bowie - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
The owners of Grangemouth refinery, Petroineos, recently announced that they were putting in place the enabling works for a future transition to an import terminal. Petroineos have not taken a decision on when refining operations will cease but they anticipate they will continue until at least May 2025.
The impact of a cessation of refining operations on UK imports will depend on the supply and demand for fuels at the time. The Government’s Net Zero policies to increase use of electric vehicles and renewable transport fuels, will progressively reduce demand for conventional fuels.
The UK already both imports and exports fuels to balance demand and supply. The Petroineos plans should continue to ensure that customer needs are met.
Asked by: Anneliese Dodds (Labour (Co-op) - Oxford East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has had discussions with (a) London Electric Vehicle Company (LEVC) Ltd and (b) the wider industry on the repair capacity for (i) LEVC black cabs and (ii) other electric taxis.
Answered by Guy Opperman - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Department has regular engagement with LEVC and the wider industry on a range of topics, most recently including manufacturing trends and the extension to the Plug In Taxi Grant. However, matters relating to electric taxi repairs have not been raised.
The Government recognises there will be a transitional period for the repair sector as the UK moves to zero emission road transport. Although not specifically on electric taxis, the Government funded research by Thatcham to understand the impact of the electric vehicle transition on the repair sector, which was published in 2023. The number of EV qualified technicians has risen rapidly. Data from the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) suggests there are 52,000 qualified electric vehicle technicians in the UK, which is 22% of all UK technicians. This is relative to 3.8% of all vehicles in the UK being a plug-in electric vehicle.