Commons Sense

House of Commons · Ministers' Questions

Electric Vehicles

Thursday 26 October 2023 · 3 questions

Summarised by AI from the official record, so it can contain mistakes.

Read the full transcript on Parliament.uk

At a glance

Answered 1 Partly answered 2 Not answered 0

Key points

  • Heather Wheeler asked about steps to increase electric vehicle availability, noting current market percentages.
  • Heather Wheeler inquired about charging infrastructure for both electric and hydrogen vehicles in rural areas.
  • Wera Hobhouse questioned the Government on closing the cost gap between home and public electric vehicle charging.

Topics (select to filter)

Questions & Answers

Q1 Heather Wheeler Con
Transport Energy
Context

No specific background mentioned, but the question focuses on the steps to increase electric vehicles' availability.

Question

What steps he is taking to increase the availability of electric vehicles. Last year, 16% of new cars and around 6% of new vans sold were fully electric.

Answer from Jesse Norman

The Government are committed to accelerating the transition to zero-emission vehicles. Last year, 16% of new cars and around 6% of new vans sold were fully electric. To continue to support the uptake of zero-emission vehicles we are introducing a world-leading zero-emission vehicle mandate. That will set a minimum percentage of manufacturers' new car and van sales to be zero-emission each year from 2024. We have laid the new public charge point regulations this week to facilitate charging for electric vehicles.

Answered
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Q2 Heather Wheeler Con
Transport Energy
Context

In South Derbyshire, there is a Toyota factory with groundbreaking hydrogen technology. The question seeks information on charging infrastructure for electric and hydrogen vehicles in rural areas.

Question

I thank my right hon. Friend for his answer. As he knows, in South Derbyshire in the Toyota factory we have groundbreaking hydrogen technology, so I would ask, what is the Minister doing to ensure that the charging infrastructure is in place across rural areas, for both electric and hydrogen vehicles?

Answer from Jesse Norman

My hon. Friend knows that the Government have supported the use of hydrogen in road vehicles for over a decade, including the installation of hydrogen refuelling infrastructure where there is sufficient demand. Toyota recently announced progress on commercialising solid-state batteries, which is encouraging across both electric and hydrogen technologies.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specifics about rural areas charging infrastructure were not addressed directly.

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Q3 Wera Hobhouse Lib Dem Bath
Transport Energy
Context

The question addresses the cost disparity between home and public charging points for electric vehicles.

Question

We have already heard that the uptake of electric vehicles is closely linked to charging points. When will the Government close the gap in charging costs between those who have the ability to charge at home and those who rely on a public charging point?

Answer from Jesse Norman

As the hon. Lady knows, there is wide experience across the charging network with many people able to charge at home and through an increasingly large public network. Changes in electricity prices tend to dominate changes overall, but we can now have a much more competitive market for charging due to the new charge point regulations.

Partly answered

Not addressed: The specific timeline or measures to close the gap were not provided.

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