First Report - Low emission cars

We are not convinced that government has sufficiently thought through how the charging infrastructure will expand at the pace required to meet the ambitious timetable to phase out petrol and diesel vehicles. The Department for Transport makes a series of … Read more We are not convinced that government has sufficiently thought through how the charging infrastructure will expand at the pace required to meet the ambitious timetable to phase out petrol and diesel vehicles. The Department for Transport makes a series of assumptions about the types of journeys people make and how they charge their electric car: 99% of all journeys are under 100 miles, the vast majority of electric car charging takes place at home during the night, and people will use public charging infrastructure for the long journeys they take. It has not however made an estimate for how many charge-points the country will need to keep up with the increase in electric cars. The Department regards government’s role for developing the charging infrastructure as stimulating rapid private investment and unblocking market failures. Whilst it has committed to targeting six rapid charge- points at every motorway service station by 2023, and up to 10 to 12 at larger sites, it has not focused much attention on charging for people that do not have off-street parking. Recommendation: The Department for Transport should set out as part of its plan for increasing the use of electric cars, how it intends to address the remaining barriers to expanding the charging network, for example, the availability of chargers where drivers do not have off-street parking. Show less

View Details →

The Departments have not yet demonstrated how they are going to encourage industry to maintain proper environmental and social standards throughout their supply and recycling chains as the zero-emission car market grows. There are a range of environmental impacts and … Read more The Departments have not yet demonstrated how they are going to encourage industry to maintain proper environmental and social standards throughout their supply and recycling chains as the zero-emission car market grows. There are a range of environmental impacts and costs affecting the growth of zero- emission cars, including the materials used to make a car and the stability of the associated supply chains, the carbon impact from where a car is manufactured, the emissions and the eventual recycling challenge. The Department for Transport says it has analysed the results of studies examining the lifecycle emissions of electric cars and found that they are about 30% to 40% lower than cars using an internal combustion engine. The Department tells us that manufacturers are focusing on the environmental and social consequences of making electric cars. The Department reports that manufacturers are looking for ways to develop batteries without rare materials and that it is in their business interests not to source products from areas with unreliable or unethical supply chains. As the number of electric cars being produced increases, pressures on the supply of rare materials may increase, and we are concerned that environmental standards could slip. Recommendation: The Departments for Transport and for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy should set out their approach to encouraging car manufacturers to maintain proper environmental and social standards throughout their supply and recycling chains as zero-emission cars volumes grow. This includes as examples: Low emission cars 7 • publishing information on lifecycle emissions; • details of relevant reporting standards for manufacturers on environmental and social stewardship; and, • future plans to develop the reporting standards. Show less

View Details →

There are other issues to be addressed in the transition to zero-emission cars, such as the need to train and retrain the workforce required to service the new car fleet, the impact on the demand for power, and the tax … Read more There are other issues to be addressed in the transition to zero-emission cars, such as the need to train and retrain the workforce required to service the new car fleet, the impact on the demand for power, and the tax implications from phasing out new petrol and diesel cars. There are numerous uncertainties that the responsible Departments must overcome as petrol and diesel cars are phased out. The skilled workforce for maintaining zero-emission cars will need to grow as many people move away from petrol and diesel engines. The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy estimates that electricity demand will double by 2050 as a result of many different elements, of which one contributor is electric vehicles. Investments will also be needed in the transmission and distribution networks to ensure they are upgraded to cope with demand from electric vehicles and other demand sources. The Department estimates this will translate to a 2% increase in energy bills by 2030. There are significant issues that government will need to consider as part of the transition, for example the lost taxes from petrol and diesel sales, the impact on insurance regulations about charging vehicles indoors, and how other types of vehicles will be decarbonised. Recommendation: The Departments for Transport and for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy need to work with other departments to consider the practical implications of the transition to zero-emission cars. They should set out in their plan how they are going to manage the wider societal impacts of phasing out new diesel and petrol cars, for example, retraining the UK workforce, the impact on power generation and transmission, and implications for the UK tax take. 8 Low emission cars 1 Plans for zero-emission cars and progress Show less

View Details →

There are a wide range of consumer-facing issues that still need to be addressed to increase the uptake of zero-emission cars. Consumers are not all yet convinced that zero-emission cars are a suitable alternative to petrol and diesel models, with concerns over the affordability of these vehicles, the distance they …

View Details →

On the basis of a Report by the Comptroller and Auditor General, we took evidence from the Department for Transport and from the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy on low-emission cars.1

View Details →

As part of the Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution, Government has committed to publishing a delivery plan in 2021 for achieving the phase out of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030, but this has not yet been published.9 In our previous report on achieving net zero, …

View Details →

We were interested in hearing the Departments view on what barriers needed to be overcome to achieve the targets for zero-emission cars. The Department for Transport told us it had undertaken a lot of research into this area, and the two most substantial factors had been price and range anxiety—the …

View Details →

The Department told us it has used the plug-in car grant, which reduces the purchase cost of qualifying new cars, to address the price barrier.13 The grant has been incrementally scaled back since 2018, and at the time of our evidence session contributed up to £3,000 off the purchase price …

View Details →

Upfront costs are not the only element making electric cars costly.16 We were concerned about the cost of replacing batteries, especially for second-hand cars, and asked the Departments to explain how this is going to be managed. The largest part of the cost of an electric vehicle is the battery, …

View Details →

We asked what the Departments were planning to do about the higher cost of charging on the public network compared to home charging.18 A National Audit Office analysis of public data suggests that charging at home can cost between 59% and 78% less than charging on the public network.19 The …

View Details →

The Department for Transport acknowledged range anxiety as a barrier to take-up and is providing investment for infrastructure, specifically focusing on public and rapid charging. However, it told us that because 99% of all journeys are under 100 miles, electric cars are suitable for many journeys. It accepted that there …

View Details →

There is regional variation in the uptake of ultra-low emission cars in the UK, for example high levels of take-up in southern England, and we have been concerned about whether some locations, including rural areas, are missing out on the transition.23 The Department for Transport told us it has not …

View Details →

The scale and reach of the charging infrastructure has grown over the past decade.26 The Department for Transport informed us that there are now 20,800 public charge-points in the UK, with 783 new charge-points created in the 30 days before our evidence session in March 2021, 124 of which were …

View Details →

We challenged the Department for Transport on how it would ensure the charging infrastructure expanded in step with its plans for a very rapid expansion in the number of electric cars ahead of 2030. The Department told us it has not set targets for the number and type of charging …

View Details →

We asked the Departments about their strategy to avoid “notspots” - areas where the market does not deliver because uptake is insufficient, especially for rural areas. The Department for Transport told us that the majority of electric car owners will charge at home overnight and start journeys with 100% charge.31 …

View Details →

For longer journeys, drivers can access public infrastructure on the strategic road network. The government has funded infrastructure so that on the strategic road network, drivers are never further than 20 miles from a rapid charge-point and will spend £950 million through Project Rapid for rapid charge-points at motorway service …

View Details →

The Department for Transport informed us there will now be a “shift” in focus from funding for home charging to on-street and other publicly available local charging. The government has doubled investment for the current year for the on-street residential charge scheme and will be doubling it to £20 million …

View Details →

We questioned the Departments about the overall environmental and social impacts of the production and use of electric cars and whether they had undertaken analysis of the full lifecycle impacts of these vehicles, including production and disposal. The Department for Transport informed us that it has looked at the lifecycle …

View Details →

The proportion of emissions is greater in the manufacturing phase than during the on- the-road phase for electric cars, which means the geographical location of manufacturing is an important factor.44 The Department for Transport believed that car manufacturers are “very cognisant” of the location of car assembly as this can …

View Details →

With regard to the materials and supply chains used in producing zero-emission cars, the Department for Transport acknowledged the issues and told us that manufacturers are focused on developments in this area. For example, Tesla and Renault are looking at developing batteries and electric motors which do not use rare …

View Details →

There are a range of other issues that will need to be considered as part of the transition to zero-emission cars. We are concerned about the impact of lost taxes from fuel duty and the potential standstill in technological change for the internal combustion engine.48 The Department for Transport explained …

View Details →

We questioned the Departments about issues we had heard about businesses not able to charge vehicles indoors overnight due to their insurance policies. The Departments did not seem aware of this issue and when the Departments wrote to us, they stated the government does not intend to intervene in commercial …

View Details →

Another issue to be considered by the Departments is that, as more zero-emission cars enter the market, there will need to be people with the right skills in place to maintain them. The Department for Transport told us that this transition has already started and ensuring training is in place …

View Details →

The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy, having assessed a number of different scenarios for meeting net zero by 2050, has estimated that electric cars will increase electricity demand by around 20% by 2050 and we wanted to understand the network’s ability to cope.53 The Department explained that the …

View Details →