Skip to main content

Queen’s Speech introduces automated and electric vehicles bill

An Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill is to be introduced to encourage the use of electric and self-driving cars, the UK government has announced in the Queen’s Speech this week.
June 22, 2017 Read time: 1 min
An Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill is to be introduced to encourage the use of electric and self-driving cars, the UK government has announced in the Queen’s Speech this week. The Bill is designed to ‘ensure the UK continues to be at the forefront of developing new technology in electric and automated road vehicles’.


The Bill will allow the regulatory framework to keep pace with the fast evolving technology for electric cars, helping improve air quality. It also provides for the installation of charging points for electric and hydrogen vehicles.

Compulsory motor vehicle insurance would be extended to cover the use of automated vehicles, to ensure that compensation claims continue to be paid quickly, fairly, and easily, in line with longstanding insurance practice.

Related Content

  • Authorities look to MaaS for new solutions and cost savings
    July 18, 2017
    The structure of society and the way in which our cities work will be completely transformed by Mobility as a Service (MaaS), Finland’s minister of transport and communications Anne Berner, told ITS International’s recent MaaS Market conference 2017 in London. In her keynote address, Berner told a packed audience of more than 200 ITS professionals that MaaS has the potential to help governments around the world meet their big city targets such as the rate of employment, the environment, the efficient use of
  • Cut freight deliveries – improve Southampton’s air quality
    November 23, 2018
    Taking the pressure off cities’ road networks can have a beneficial effect on the environment. David Crawford looks at a new economic model which seeks to quantify the societal effect of freight traffic in Southampton, one of the UK’s five most polluted cities Cuts of 60% or more in volumes of freight deliveries are being predicted - along with badly-needed improvements in air quality - from a load consolidation scheme currently being introduced in the UK port city of Southampton. The forecasts are based o
  • Magway plots retail delivery revolution
    May 8, 2020

    While most of the debate around hyperloop focuses on the potential for passenger traffic, technology firms are also exercised about how to respond to the fast-changing nature of the retail sector.

    One such company is the UK-based start-up Magway, co-founded in 2017 by former South African mining engineer Rupert Cruise and retail and technology consultant Phill Davies.

    In short, Magway moves goods from warehouses to distribution centres – or to new residential or commercial hubs - through small, high-density polyethylene pipes in pods driven by linear synchronous motors.

  • How to make people feel safe with AVs
    December 5, 2022
    New research suggests that having a person available to help might be useful for acceptance