Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what assessment he has made of the effect of the transition of public and private sector fleets to electric vehicles on (a) the development of electric vehicle second hand markets and (b) electric vehicle affordability.

We estimate that fleet operator businesses buy over half of the new vehicles sold each year and subsequently are major suppliers to the second hand market. Supporting them to choose zero emission vehicles will therefore help to grow the second hand market. Our ambitions for zero emission driving are supported by an accompanying package of £2.8 billion, with up to £1 billion to support the electrification of UK vehicles and their supply chains, £1.3 billion to accelerate the roll out of charging infrastructure and £582 million for plug in vehicle grants.

Once fuel costs and tax incentives are factored in, we expect the total cost of ownership to reach parity during the 2020s, compared to petrol and diesel cars. It costs from 1p/mile to run a new electric vehicle, compared to around 10p per mile for new diesel/petrol vehicles.