Last week, Vice Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Electric and Autonomous Vehicles, Andrew Selous MP, led a debate on the uptake of electric vehicles and bicycles.
During the debate Mr Selous and other MPs consistently expressed cross party support for electric vehicles and for the necessary infrastructure and incentivisation support required from government.
Encouragingly Mr Selous recognised The BVRLA’s concerns about the impact current company car tax plans will have on electric vehicle take up. As he explained: ‘There is the serious issue of company car tax. There is a lunatic progression: at the moment, the rate of company car tax for zero-emission vehicles is 9%, which is due to rise to 16% before going down to 2%. Let us get it down to 2%; let us signal our intention, not make it worse for the area that we are trying to encourage”.
Separately, Labour MP Alex Sobel called for “a revision of Vehicle Excise Duty rates to better incentivise both new purchases and support the second-hand market”.
Responding to remarks at the close of the debate, Road and Local Transport Minister, Jesse Norman, said the government would play a vital role in the decarbonisation of UK transport. Mr Norman wants to position the UK as a world-leader in the development, manufacture and use of zero-emission vehicles and it is his ambition for “almost every car and van to have zero emissions by 2050”.
The BVRLA continues to call for the government to revisit its plans for company car tax bandings due over the next few years, which it believes will actually hamper low emission vehicle take up.
Read more about the BVRLA’s stance on taxation in the related Position Paper.
Find out more about electric motoring at the BVRLA's upcoming Fleet Technology Congress.
