Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when the Government plans to bring forward legislative proposals on trailer driving tests.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
New legislation was re-laid in Parliament on 23 November 2021 to allow all full car licence holders to tow a trailer without having to pass a separate category B+E test.
Once these changes have been approved by both Houses, we will be able to confirm the date the licensing law will be introduced.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans he has to ensure sufficient availability of electricity charging points for electric motorcycles.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The UK is a global front-runner in supporting provision of charging infrastructure along with private sector investment. Our vision is to have one of the best infrastructure networks in the world for electric vehicles, including electric motorcycles, and we want chargepoints to be accessible, affordable, and secure. Building on the £1.9 billion from Spending Review 2020, the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles has secured an additional £620 million to support the transition to electric vehicles, supporting the large-scale deployment of chargepoints at pace and plug-in vehicle grants. We have also committed to consult on a date to end the sale of new non-zero emission motorcycles.
Government and industry have already supported the installation of more than 26,000 publicly available charging devices. This includes more than 4,900 rapid devices.
Government’s plans for EV infrastructure are set out in more detail in the 2035 Delivery Plan and, later this year, we will publish an EV Infrastructure Strategy.
Some electric motorcycles use a ‘Type 2’ connector to charge, which is required for A.C. chargepoints under the Alternative Fuels Infrastructure Regulations 2017 (AFIR). There are some electric motorcycles coming to market which can rapid charge and some models, such as electric mopeds, have detachable batteries that can be brought inside and plugged in with a standard 3-pin plug for example, at home or work.
The Government has already committed to ending the sale of all new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030 and all new cars and vans must be 100% zero emission at the tailpipe by 2035. The growth of the large markets for these vehicles over the next 15 years will encourage investment in the charging infrastructure, meaning there will be knock on benefits for the zero emission L-category sector, such as electric motorcycles.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will publish the methodology used by his Department to estimate the number of electricity public charging points required for road vehicles by (a) 2025, ((b) 2030, (c) 2035 and (d) 2040.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government will publish an electric vehicle (EV) Infrastructure Strategy later this year to set out the vision and action plan for charging infrastructure rollout needed to successfully achieve the phase out of all new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030 and for all to be zero emission at the tailpipe by 2035. This will discuss possible ranges for the numbers of chargepoints required, recognising that charging habits are likely to evolve over time, and that needs will differ between local areas. In particular, it will set out the different types of charging that will be needed to support drivers without off street parking, including on-street and destination charging in local areas alongside on-route rapid chargepoints. Where appropriate, the Infrastructure Strategy will include more information on methods used to estimate the number of EV public chargepoints needed.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the amount of electricity that will be required to fuel transport in the UK in the years (a) 2025, (b) 2030, (c) 2035 and (d) 2040.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
As part of BEIS annually published Energy and Emissions Projections a breakdown is given of the final energy demand for electricity for each sector including transport, for all years up to 2040 (see ‘Annex F: Final energy demand’ of each publication). The annual projections include only firm and funded policy, and over time will include the measures set out in the recent Transport Decarbonisation Plan and Net Zero Strategy as they progress to impact assessment stage.
As part of the Net Zero Strategy BEIS have considered the electricity demand from all sectors including transport for the delivery pathway up to 2037 (see Figure 14), to ensure that power supply can meet expected demand across the whole economy, while delivering net zero and carbon budgets.
Asked by: Bill Wiggin (Conservative - North Herefordshire)
Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether the pioneering technology used in 2016 by Highways England’s contractors to resurface the A1 at Brownieside continues to be utilised.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
This technology is still being utilised by National Highways (formerly Highways England) where it is thought to be the most suitable for the project in question. It has been used on 6 different schemes within the Yorkshire and North East region since the original trial in 2016.