Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of financial incentives provided by the electric car grant before its withdrawal.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government’s approach to supporting the uptake of electric cars is clearly working – while the Government slowly reduced the grant over time, the sale of electric vehicles soared. The sales of fully electric cars grew from less than 1,000 in 2011 to almost 100,000 in the first 5 months of 2022 alone.
An independent report commissioned by the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles to assess the impact of the grant scheme, found that the grant has had a material impact on demand for new EVs, but also that the importance of it has reduced as the market has matured and price has become less of a barrier to vehicle uptake.
Asked by: Toby Perkins (Labour - Chesterfield)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the cessation of the electrical vehicle grant, what additional steps his Department is taking to help encourage the public to purchase electric vehicles.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
This Government has committed £2.5 billion since 2020 to support the transition to zero emission vehicles, with funding to offset their higher upfront cost, and to accelerate the rollout of chargepoint infrastructure.
Although Government has recently closed the plug-in car grant to new orders, Plug-in Grants will continue until at least financial year 2023/24 for taxis and motorcycles, and 2024/25 for vans, trucks and wheelchair accessible vehicles.
Plug-in Grants are just one way in which Government supports electric vehicle uptake. We have put in place favourable benefit in kind tax rates for zero emission vehicles out to 2025: company car tax was 1% in 2021/22 and 2% in 2022/23 through to 2024/25. Further, all zero emission cars are exempt from vehicle excise duty (VED) and zero emissions vans pay a nil rate of tax on the van benefit charge.
In addition, we announced in the Net Zero Strategy that we will 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.
In March we published our ambitious electric vehicle infrastructure strategy, backed by £1.6 billion of funding, setting out our vision and commitments to make electric vehicle charging cheaper and more convenient than refueling at a petrol station, supporting drivers across the whole country to make the transition to a cleaner, greener vehicle.
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what consultation they undertook with the automotive sector prior to their announcement that they will cease to provide grants for purchases of some categories of electric vehicles; and what estimate they have made of the impact that the loss of these grants will have on total electric vehicle sales.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
We have been clear since 2018 that the plug-in grants will eventually end and that we keep all grants under review to ensure the best value for taxpayer’s money. Providing even a short notice period ahead of the grant rates in March 2020 led to a very large spike in orders and a larger number of these were subsequently cancelled. A similar spike this time around would not have been affordable within current budgets. Government has a responsibility to manage the grant budget and to deliver value for money for taxpayers and was therefore unable to formally consult with the automotive sector ahead of the grant changes, however we did discuss the process of halting the grant with a number of stakeholders.
While the Government has slowly reduced the grant over time, the sale of electric vehicles has soared.
Asked by: Colleen Fletcher (Labour - Coventry North East)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of trends in the levels of sales of (a) new cars and (b) electric vehicles in each of the last five years.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Data for vehicle sales is not available, however the number of cars registered for the first time in the United Kingdom for the last five years is shown in the table.
Year | All Fuel Types | Battery Electric Cars |
2017 | 2,564,330 | 13,913 |
2018 | 2,394,042 | 15,756 |
2019 | 2,346,576 | 38,007 |
2020 | 1,656,403 | 107,913 |
2021 | 1,677,245 | 190,420 |
Source: Department for Transport (DfT) and Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA)
Asked by: Baroness Randerson (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what are determines whether a vehicle is an electric bicycle or an electric motorbike for the purposes of (1) sales of such vehicles, and (2) whether they can be ridden on public roads; and what are the penalties for retailers who provide inaccurate descriptions of the legal status of the bikes they sell.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Electrically Assisted Pedal Cycles Regulations 1983, amended in 2015, set out the requirements that electric bicycles or e-cycles must satisfy if they are not to be treated as motor vehicles when used on cycle paths and public roads in Great Britain. Electric bikes which do not meet these requirements are treated as motor vehicles, and where this is the case, manufacturers must ensure that their vehicles are type approved; importers and retailers must ensure that type approval has been obtained; riders must hold a licence and wear an approved motorcycle helmet; and the vehicle must be registered, taxed, and insured.
Retailers must not sell high-powered electric bikes which are not type-approved. Those that do so can be subject to prosecution and criminal conviction in court, or can face a civil penalty issued by DVSA of up to £50,000 per offence, as set out in The Motorcycles (Type Approval) Regulations 2018.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking with the Secretary of State for Education to support training opportunities for young people who wish to pursue careers as electric vehicle mechanics.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Our strategy for net zero is to lead the world in ending our contribution to climate change, while turning this mission into the greatest opportunity for jobs and prosperity for our country since the industrial revolution.
The Government is helping to develop the green skills needed for this net zero economy through initiatives such as the Green apprenticeships, Green Skills Bootcamps, Electrification skills boost, and Free Courses for Jobs.
We are also working with the Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI). The Government’s Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) has endorsed the IMI’s TechSafe scheme to help ensure the UK’s workforce of mechanics are well trained and have the skills they need to repair electric vehicles safely.
OZEV has also endorsed the National Franchise Dealers Association’s Electric Vehicle Approved (EVA) Scheme which is a set of standards for automotive retail designed to recognise business excellence in the EV sector, in retail and after-sales care. The EVA mark is then awarded to individual locations that are rigorously and independently audited to ensure this standard is maintained.
Asked by: Kieran Mullan (Conservative - Crewe and Nantwich)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent progress he has made on supporting the roll out of electric vehicles.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Industry statistics suggest that over 750,000 plug-in vehicles have been sold in the UK since 2010, and over one in six cars sold in 2021 had a plug. Charging infrastructure has also been increasing. Government and industry have supported the installation of over 28,000 publicly available charging devices including more than 5,100 rapid devices – one of the largest networks in Europe. The Government has supported the installation of nearly a quarter of a million chargepoints in homes and workplaces.
Building on the £1.9 billion from Spending Review 2020, the Government has committed an additional £620 million to support the transition to electric vehicles (EV). The additional funding will support the rollout of charging infrastructure, with a particular focus on local on street residential charging, and targeted plug-in vehicle grants.
Alongside funding, we are also introducing the new regulations to support the transition. Legislation laid in December 2021 will require all new residential and non-residential buildings with associated parking in England to have a chargepoint installed at the point of construction. Later this year we intend to regulate to improve the consumer experience at public chargepoints. Helping consumers locate the right chargepoints for their needs; making it easier to pay; ensuring charging infrastructure is reliable; and pricing is transparent. We will also be consulting on the introduction of a zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate - setting targets for a percentage of manufacturers' new car and van sales to be zero emission each year from 2024.
Our soon to be published EV Infrastructure Strategy will set out the vision and action plan for charging infrastructure rollout needed to achieve the 2030/35 phase out successfully and to accelerate the transition to a zero-emission fleet.
Asked by: Jamie Stone (Liberal Democrat - Caithness, Sutherland and Easter Ross)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of weighting plug-in vehicle grants towards rural postcodes.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Government grants have been available since 2010 to incentivise more people to make the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) – so far nearly £1.5 billion has been invested, supporting the purchase of over 410,000 vehicles. The grants are offered at the point of sale across the UK on all eligible vehicles and are factored into the advertised price. We have not made an assessment of the merits of weighting plug-in vehicle grants towards rural areas. Doing this could increase the complexity of the scheme and increase the risk of fraud.
Government has recently committed an additional £620m to support the transition to electric vehicles in addition to the £582m committed for the Plug in Vehicle Grant schemes at Spending Review 2020. This additional funding will be focused on supporting the rollout of charging infrastructure and targeted plug-in vehicle grants. The Government also offers generous tax incentives including favourable company car tax rates for EVs. These rates have been a strong driver of sales and are confirmed until FY24/25. Local areas can also put in their own measures to encourage EV ownership, such as reduced rates for residential parking permits.
Asked by: Ruth Jones (Labour - Newport West)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken to ensure the uptake of electric cars and vans is in line with the Climate Change Committee’s recommendations.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
Government is going further and faster to decarbonise transport by phasing out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030, and, from 2035, all new cars and vans must be zero emissions at the tailpipe.
As recommended by the Committee for Climate Change, and in order to deliver these phases out dates, Government announced in the Net Zero Strategy that it will 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.
Government grants for plug in vehicles continue to be available to help reduce the up-front purchase price of electric cars, vans, trucks, motorbikes and taxis. There are also grants available to support the installation of chargepoints at homes, workplaces, on residential streets and along motorways and major A roads. Building on the £1.9bn from Spending Review 2020, the Government has recently committed an additional £620m to support the transition to electric vehicles. The additional funding will support the rollout of charging infrastructure, with a particular focus on local on street residential charging, and targeted plug-in vehicle grants.
Asked by: Helen Hayes (Labour - Dulwich and West Norwood)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make it his policy to introduce subsidies that bring the retail value of electric cars in line with their fossil fuel counterparts.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government has committed 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. The Government announced a further £620m towards the electric vehicle transition as part of the Net Zero Strategy. This will have a particular focus on targeted plug in vehicle grants and local on-street residential charging. This is in addition to the Government’s existing support to drivers making the switch to electric vehicles through the Plug in Car Grant (PiCG), which provides up to £2,500. Government has already previously committed £582m towards for cars vans, motorcycles and taxis to 2022/23, following the Budget in 2020. This will support greater uptake of zero emission vehicles for greener journeys. Once fuel costs and tax incentives are factored in, we expect the total cost of ownership to reach parity during the 2020s, compared to petrol and diesel cars. It costs from 1p per mile to run a new electric vehicle, compared to around 10p per mile for new diesel or petrol vehicles. We are also supporting the second hand market, through charging infrastructure support and zero road tax for zero emission vehicles.