7:09 am, September 4, 2023
Automotive industry experts will give evidence to a House of Lords inquiry into electric vehicles later this week.
Car dealer suppliers, manufacturer bosses and trade chiefs are due to appear before the upper parliamentary chamber’s environment and climate change committee on Wednesday (Sep 6) when it opens its inquiry into EVs.
The inquiry has been set up to examine the importance of the decarbonisation of transport as well as the move to EVs to reach net zero targets.
It will seek to understand how the government can achieve its upcoming 2030 ban on selling new petrol and diesel cars and the 2035 cut-off for selling new hybrids.
It’ll also examine the main obstacles and barriers to meeting the targets.
Passenger cars will be the focus as the committee, chaired by Baroness Parminter, explores what steps can be taken by the government to make the move as easy and accessible as possible for consumers as well as businesses involved in meeting market demand.
The inquiry will also assess the opportunity costs and benefits of encouraging and delivering a greater uptake of EVs.
Topics that the committee is likely to cover will include:
- Petrol and diesel vehicle phase-out dates
- The Zero Emission Vehicles mandate
- Factors limiting EV uptake in the UK
- Gaps and challenges of the current EV market
- The second-hand EV market
- Vehicle leasing
- Alternative ownership and transport models
Kicking things off at 10am will be Auto Trader brand director Marc Palmer, Motors.co.uk chief operating officer Phill Jones, British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association director of corporate affairs Toby Poston and Zipcar general manager James Taylor.
They’ll be followed at 11am by Vauxhall Motors MD James Taylor, Oxford University transport studies unit director Professor Tim Schwanen, Green Finance Institute programme director Lauren Pamma and SMMT CEO Mike Hawes.
The committee also wants to hear about people’s experience of buying and using EVs in the UK, as well as the barriers that they’ve faced.
Evidence can be submitted by 5pm on Friday, September 15, with details on how to do so on the committee’s website.
When the inquiry was launched last month, the baroness said: ‘The rubber is now hitting the road – as we can’t get to net zero without individuals making changes to our lives, how we travel and what we buy.’
Meanwhile, Hawes said: ‘With the choice of electrified products expanding and their undoubted benefits – a quiet driving experience, the potential for lower running costs and a reduced environmental impact – governments must provide the support and encouragement for all consumers to purchase, charge and own.’
