Question to the Department for Transport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on supporting manufacturers to increase the range of electric cars.
I talk regularly to Cabinet colleagues about a range of issues. In terms of improving the range of electric vehicles, the Government has committed £274m from the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund to the Faraday Battery Challenge to advance battery technology. This funding is supporting battery R&D from the Faraday Institution’s academic research, through Innovate UK’s programme of collaborative applied R&D, to scale-up in the cutting-edge UK Battery Industrialisation Centre. The aims of the Faraday Battery Challenge include improving the energy density of batteries, improving our understanding of temperature effects on range, and reducing battery costs which will make longer range electric vehicles more affordable.
The Secretary of State is continuing to discuss with Cabinet colleagues what support the government might provide to industry to support the switch to zero emission vehicles.