Asked by: Steve McCabe (Labour - Birmingham, Selly Oak)
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 support the automotive industry's transition to electric vehicles in the West Midlands.
Answered by Alan Mak - Minister of State (Department for Business and Trade) (jointly with the Cabinet Office)
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.
There are substantial opportunities for R&D and capital investment across the supply chain and the West Midlands is well-placed to benefit.
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.
Asked by: Lord Berkeley (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to regulating the sale of electric bike converter kits rated at over 250 watts, given that a vehicle with this rating would no longer be classed as an electric bike, but rather a moped or motorcycle.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Various vehicles which are not legal to use on UK roads can be legally imported into the UK for off-road use. E-bikes which do not comply with Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycles (EAPC) regulations would fall into this category.
Asked by: Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi (Labour - Slough)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps his Department has taken to help increase the adoption of electric vehicles.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
Government grants have been in place for over a decade to help reduce the up-front purchase price of electric vehicles, with over £1.8 billion in grant funding provided since 2011. Grants remain available for vans, trucks, wheelchair accessible vehicles and taxis. Favourable tax benefits also remain in place to support the transition to EVs.
These policies are working. March 2024 saw the highest ever recorded volume of monthly battery electric vehicle registrations in the UK, with manufacturers reporting over 48,000 vehicles sold.
As stated in the Plan for Drivers, the Government will also continue to support the uptake of zero emission vehicles, by addressing common misconceptions and showing how they can be a practical option for most drivers.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department (a) is taking and (b) plans to take steps to increase the provision of fast chargers for electric vehicles.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government and industry have supported the installation of over 61,000 publicly available charging devices. This is a 44% increase on last year. There are now more than 10,000 rapid charge points available.
ChargeUK members have committed to investing more than £6 billion in developing and operating charging infrastructure before 2030.
Going forward, the Government’s £381 million Local EV Infrastructure Fund is already supporting local authorities to deliver tens of thousands of local chargepoints and the £70 million Rapid Charging Fund pilot will future-proof electrical capacity at strategic locations
Asked by: Navendu Mishra (Labour - Stockport)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the number of electric vehicle charging points in Stockport constituency.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As of 1st April 2024, there were 34 total public electric vehicle charging devices in the Stockport constituency, 18 of which were rated 50kW or above, according to the electric vehicle charging platform Zapmap.
The £381 million Local EV Infrastructure (LEVI) Fund will support local authorities such as Stockport Council in England to work with industry and transform the availability of EV charging for drivers without off-street parking.
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.