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: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of vehicles in the car fleet for (a) Ministers and (b) senior officials are pure electric cars.
Answered by Anthony Browne - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Transport)
The Government Car Service (GCS) provide a Departmental Pool Car Service to Departments as a shared resource. Ministers have access to this service which is managed by the receiving Department. The GCS currently operates 38 battery electric cars (33% of the GCS fleet). Initial capital costs to procure battery electric cars for the GCS fleet incurred an uplift of at least 18% compared to a similar fit for purpose car.
A comparison of annual running costs is not held at present by GCS. This is due to the fact that the electric battery fleet is charged at multiple locations across numerous Government departments, and that data is not recorded. However, in many cases, electric vehicles continue to benefit from significant savings on the cost of fuel. Charging a medium sized electric car at rates equivalent to the January 2024 electricity price cap equates to around half the cost of filling up an equivalent petrol vehicle. In addition to this, electric vehicles generally cost less to maintain due to fewer moving parts than their petrol or diesel equivalents.
Asked by: Baroness Parminter (Liberal Democrat - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many of the official cars used by Cabinet Members are electric, including those for the Prime Minister.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Prime Minister and many Cabinet members are entitled to protection; this service is provided by the Metropolitan Police. One member has their own arrangement for transport with a private hire company. The Department for Transport does not hold information on the cars they are provided with.
The Government Car Service (GCS) provides a Departmental Pool Car service to Departments as a shared resource. The remaining members that attend Cabinet will have access to cars provided by GCS including battery electric and petrol electric hybrid models.
Asked by: Bill Esterson (Labour - Sefton Central)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of cars in the UK are electric vehicles.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The latest official statistics show that the proportion of cars in the UK that are battery electric is 1.7% as of 30 September 2022.
Asked by: John Redwood (Conservative - Wokingham)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the the adequacy of the (a) range, (b) security and (c) comfort of electric vehicles procured by the Government Car Service for Government use.
Answered by Jesse Norman
The Government Car Service (GCS) now operates 38 battery electric cars.
(a) The range of these cars is more than adequate for most journeys, whilst other vehicles are available if needed for longer journeys.
(b) The security of GCS vehicles and their passengers is a priority. Various modifications are made to these vehicles prior to entering service.
(c) All vehicles procured by GCS are evaluated for fitness for purpose to enable Ministers to work in reasonable comfort while travelling.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what proportion of the central government fleet of cars is electrified.
Answered by Jesse Norman
As of 31 March 2022, 18% of vehicles in the government car fleet are ultra-low emission. In total, there are 24,336 cars in the central government fleet of which 4,315 are ultra-low emission.
The Government will report further updates on its progress to decarbonising its car fleet in due course.
Asked by: Louise Haigh (Labour - Sheffield, Heeley)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many and what proportion of his Department's fleet of vehicles are electric.
Answered by Jesse Norman
There are 521 electric vehicles in the Department’s vehicle fleet. This represents 41.4% of the Departments fleet of 1257.
Asked by: Lord Birt (Crossbench - Life peer)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what percentage of vehicles owned or hired by the government to transport (1) ministers, and (2) senior civil servants, on official business are fully electric.
Answered by Baroness Vere of Norbiton - Parliamentary Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Government Car Service (GCS) provides a departmental pool car service to most Government Departments. Cars are provided as a shared resource for Ministers and senior officials, which is managed by individual departments. The departmental pool car fleet currently consists of 96 vehicles. 28 of those vehicles are fully electric (29%) and 26 are hybrid electric (27%).