Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what plans she has to (a) encourage and (b) enable drivers who may be unable to afford a new car to switch to (a) electric vehicles and (a) more electric environmentally friendly cars.

The Government is committed to ensuring that the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) is accessible to everyone. Many EVs on the second-hand market are now priced similarly to comparable petrol and diesel cars. Industry data on used vehicle transactions suggests there is strong and growing interest in used zero emission vehicles (ZEVs).

The Government’s Electric Car Grant (ECG) is designed to stimulate the uptake of lower cost, new ZEVs. This will, over time, increase the supply of affordable EVs into the second-hand market.

To boost consumer confidence in the longevity of used EVs, the ECG and the ZEV Mandate require manufacturers to provide a warranty of 8 years or 100,000 miles on EV batteries and a replacement battery if the original battery’s capacity falls below 70% in that period. This is significantly higher than warranties typically offered for petrol or diesel cars.