PARLIAMENTARY DEBATE
Electric Vehicles - 13 February 2025 (Commons/Commons Chamber)

The Government support zero emission vehicles through taxation incentives, vehicle grants and funding infrastructure roll-out. In January, EV sales were 42% higher than in January 2024. The recent National Audit Office report showed that we are on track to meet the 300,000 public charging points needed for expected demand in 2030.

My hon. Friend’s expertise in the field is welcome. Showcasing the benefits of EV ownership and the growth of the public charging point network are vital to supporting the transition away from diesel and petrol-powered cars. As he will know, EV drivers can save hundreds of pounds a year, and the average range of a new EV is now 236 miles. That is about two weeks’ driving for most people, and of course it is cleaner and greener. We are working closely with industry stakeholders to promote positive messaging around EVs and to improve consumer confidence.

One of the challenges facing people who are moving to electric vehicles is the charging infrastructure, particularly in inner cities. Local authorities have worked to try to help that, but they have limited resources. My old team at Newham council did a deal with Uber to supply 400 on-street charging units. Does the Minister agree that that sort of partnership using public sector actors with private finance could help resolve the issue? Could the Government look at ways they could work with local authorities to secure those public-private partnerships?

It is great to hear about Newham council’s partnership that was developed under my hon. Friend’s leadership. The £381 million local EV infrastructure fund does just as he suggests, and is expected to deliver 100,000 charging points across the country, supporting those drivers without off-street parking to switch to electric vehicles.

The future of the car industry is important to West Brom, and that future lies in electric vehicles. One of the key issues on the demand side is that consumers do not have enough confidence in second-hand EVs, despite manufacturer warranties and increasingly good battery life. What steps are the Government taking to improve consumer confidence when buying second- hand EVs?

My hon. Friend will be pleased to know that one in three used electric cars are now under £20,000, and data suggests that owners should expect an EV to last just as long as an internal combustion engine car. The United Nations Economic Commission for Europe has developed a new global technical regulation, which would set standards for the lifespan of an EV battery and its minimum durability. We are analysing options for the implementation of such regulations in the UK.

What the Minister says is all very well, but why do the Government not support my Exemption from Value Added Tax (Public Electric Vehicle Charging Points) Bill?

As the hon. Member knows, matters relating to taxation are for the Treasury rather than the Department for Transport, but I am sure that the Chancellor will be looking at the proposals that he brings forward.

I welcome the increased uptake of electric vehicles. Indeed we do still need to dispel many myths. In my constituency, charging infrastructure is still a big issue, and the distribution networks struggle to speed up connecting to the infrastructure that is needed. Will the Minister outline what work she will do with distribution networks to increase the expansion of EV charging networks?

As I am sure the hon. Member knows, there has been a rapid increase in the roll-out of electric charging points—it was up by more than 40% last year. However, she is absolutely right that in some cases that roll-out is difficult, because it is held back by the availability of capacity on the network. That is precisely why we are working across Government, including with my colleagues in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, to unblock those things, so that we can ensure that everyone can access the electric vehicle charging points that they need close to home.

I thank the Minister for her answers. I am not a petrolhead, but I do love my diesel vehicle. Those of us who live in the countryside understand that having a diesel vehicle is incredibly important, and there are no electric charging points across the rural countryside. There need to be more of those charging points on the high street and in the shopping centres, and there definitely need to be more of them in the countryside, since those of us who live there are being disadvantaged by the electric car process as it goes forward. What is being done to help the rural community—those of us who live in the countryside and those of us who represent them—take advantage of electric cars as well? The charging points are not there; the system does not work.

I think the hon. Gentleman has already been charged.

The hon. Member makes an important point: we need to ensure that there is access everywhere across our nation to electric vehicle charging points. In the autumn Budget, we committed £200 million to supporting the roll-out of charging infrastructure, which is bolstered by over £6 billion in private investment that has been committed up to 2030. The hon. Member will be pleased to hear that there are over 73,000 public charging points in the UK, over 20,000 have been added in the past year, and there has been a 45% increase in rural charging points over the past year.

I call the shadow Minister.

I draw the House’s attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.

Last year, just one in 10 consumers buying a new car chose battery electric, and in 2024, the private market for battery electric was 20% lower than Government intervention had tried to manipulate it to be. Without fleet sales—which we know are warped by huge tax incentives, promoting them over practical vehicle choices—electric car demand just is not there. When will the Minister understand that people are crying out for a different way to defossilise and decarbonise their private vehicles? Battery electric just is not popular, so when will the Government stop trying to tell people what they should want? This is just a “Government knows best” attitude at its very worst, is it not?

What an absolutely astonishing intervention by the shadow Minister. It was his Government who introduced the zero emission vehicle mandate, and we are not proposing to change the trajectory that they introduced. I would gently remind him that many fleet vehicles are in fact private vehicles, as people choose to lease their vehicles or access them through a salary sacrifice scheme. Last year, the UK was the largest market in Europe—in fact, in the world—for EV vehicles.[Official Report, 24 February 2025; Vol. 762, c. 10WC.] (Correction) He is talking nonsense.

The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders’ January report simply does not back up what the Minister has just said. I repeat that only one in 10 consumers—the people we all represent in this House—actively chose a battery electric vehicle. As the Minister knows from her time on the Transport Select Committee when we looked at the future of fuel, there are other technologies out there. The Government like to say that they are technology-neutral, but the ZEV mandate’s myopic focus on the tailpipe rather than whole system analysis effectively denies our innovators the room to defossilise and decarbonise in a manner that consumers want. Surely the Minister sees that, so instead of trying to force people to buy battery electric, will the Government just get the bureaucracy out of the way and let our innovators innovate?

I wonder whether the shadow Minister has actually met any vehicle manufacturers. If he had, he would know that they are investing incredibly heavily in the switch to battery electric vehicles. I and my ministerial colleagues have met manufacturers representing 95% of the UK car market to understand their concerns, and we will be working with them to ensure we support all UK vehicle manufacturers, who have—as they would put it—bet the house on the transition to electric vehicles.