Asked by: Afzal Khan (Labour - Manchester, Gorton)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of extending the eligibility criteria for plug-in vehicle grants to private cars.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
There are now over a million battery electric cars registered in the UK, and their sales continue to grow. The Government is targeting its incentives where they have the most impact and deliver the greatest value for money. Plug-in Grants will continue until at least financial year 2024/25 for motorcycles, vans, taxis, trucks and wheelchair accessible vehicles.
Asked by: Fabian Hamilton (Labour - Leeds North East)
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.
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 address any misinformation surrounding electric vehicles; and what consideration they have given to reintroducing incentives for purchasing electric cars.
Answered by Lord Davies of Gower - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
As committed in the Plan for Drivers, the Government has published factual information on electric vehicle (EVs) and EV charging infrastructure, to address misinformation surrounding EVs.
Due to the success of the Plug-in Car Grant in driving the growth of the EV market, the Government is now targeting its incentives toward charging infrastructure and grants for harder to transition vehicles. In June 2022, the Government published a public evaluation report, highlighting that while the plug-in car grant was vital in building the early market for EVs, it had since been having less of an effect on demand.
The Government continues to provide tax incentives to encourage the uptake of EVs. EVs currently pay zero rates of VED and from 2025, they will continue to have preferential first year rates in comparison to the most polluting vehicles. Favourable rates of company car tax for EVs have been confirmed out to April 2028.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
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, if he will make an assessment of the impact of the reduction in the plug-in motorcycle grant on the number of sales of electric-powered light vehicles.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Plug-in Motorcycle Grant (PIMG) remains open to applications for L1e (mopeds) and L3e (motorcycles) category vehicles until at least the end of the current financial year.
Government grants have been available for over a decade to help reduce the up-front purchase price of electric vehicles. Since the introduction of the PIMG in 2011, the market shares for L1e category vehicles and L3e category vehicles have increased to 40.6% and 3.3% respectively. All the Plug-in Vehicle Grants remain under continual review by the Government to ensure they deliver the greatest value for money to the taxpayer.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
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.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent progress his Department has made on ending the sale of petrol and diesel cars from 2030.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The recent introduction of the world-leading zero emission vehicle mandate will support future supply of zero emission vehicles, by setting a minimum percentage of manufacturer’s new car and van sales to be zero emission each year from 2024.
To facilitate the transition to zero emission vehicles, the Government is also working with industry to increase the number of electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints. The Government’s Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy sets out the steps being taken to support the deployment of these chargepoints across the country.
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 they are prepared to implement the ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2035.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The introduction of the world-leading zero emission vehicle mandate will support the future supply of zero emission vehicles, by setting a minimum percentage of manufacturer’s new car and van sales to be zero emission each year from 2024.
To facilitate the transition to zero emission vehicles, the Government is also working with industry to increase the number of electric vehicle (EV) chargepoints. The Government’s Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy sets out the steps being taken to support the deployment of these chargepoints across the country.
Asked by: Charlotte Nichols (Labour - Warrington North)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking with Cabinet colleagues to support the transition to zero emission vehicles.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Net Zero Strategy, published in 2021, confirmed the Government's intention to introduce a zero emission vehicle mandate, setting targets for a percentage of manufacturers' new car and van sales to be zero emission each year from 2024. This will discharge commitments to phase out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030.
In addition, the Government’s EV infrastructure strategy sets out its vision and commitments to accelerate the rollout of an electric vehicle charging network and get chargepoints into the ground quicker.
Asked by: Wera Hobhouse (Liberal Democrat - Bath)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the rate of VAT applied to electric vehicle charging in domestic settings on the take-up of electric vehicles.
Answered by Victoria Atkins - Secretary of State for Health and Social Care
The VAT relief for the supply of domestic fuel and power was not designed for charging electric vehicles (EVs) at home. However, the practical challenges of differentiating between the electricity used at home for general domestic purposes and the electricity used to charge EVs means that the relief is effectively being applied to EV charging at home.
Although VAT policy has not been designed to incentivise the uptake of EVs, the Government is committed to supporting the transition to zero emission vehicles to help the UK meet its net zero obligations. The Government has already spent over £2 billion to support the transition. With this support, the EV transition is continuing at pace. In 2022, battery electric vehicles made up 16.6 per cent of all new cars sales, up from 11.5 per cent in 2021.
Asked by: Jim Shannon (Democratic Unionist Party - Strangford)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has made an assessment of the potential impact of the cost fuel on the level of car sales in 2022.
Answered by Richard Holden - Minister without Portfolio (Cabinet Office)
While the Department does monitor electricity cost variation and the impact on electric vehicle uptake, through the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles, no such recent assessment has been made by the Department of the cost of fuel and the impact on car sales.