Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the lifecycle emissions of battery technology.

The Department for Transport developed the Transport Energy Model, published in 2018, to provide a clear assessment of the relative environmental impacts of different road vehicle technologies and fuels. This showed that battery electric vehicles (EVs) in the UK have substantially lower greenhouse gas emissions than conventional petrol or diesel cars, even when taking into account the energy mix of the electricity to charge the vehicle and the electricity used for battery production.

In order to obtain their full environmental benefits, EVs and their batteries need to be manufactured using electricity from carbon-free sources. With the Government’s announcement of up to £1 billion to support EV supply chains, our increasing use of carbon-free energy sources, and our commitment to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, the UK is an attractive option for investment in low-carbon battery manufacture.