Dear Colleagues,
ELECTRIC VEHICLES – THE FACTS
Following the Prime Minister’s announcement last year to phase out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030 to support our net zero climate ambitions, plug-in electric vehicles now represent nearly one in seven new cars sold. However, there remain many misconceptions about how much they cost, how easy they are to charge, and how far they can be driven. Please find attached a short leaflet that addresses some of the most common misconceptions about electric vehicles (also available here).
I hope you will find this useful when answering your constituents’ and local businesses’ queries about electric vehicles, and in building support for decarbonising transport. Transport is the UK’s highest emitting sector and of that, 90% comes from road transport. That means that cars and vans currently represent around a fifth of UK carbon emissions. We want people across the country to have the opportunity to make the move to electric vehicles and for charging to be at least as easy as refuelling a petrol or diesel vehicle. We now have over 25,000 public chargepoints available across the UK as well as over 4,500 rapid chargers. But we realise there is still much to do and the pace needs to be increased to reach our net zero 2050 goals.
That is why we have pledged £2.8 billion to support industry and drivers to make the switch to cleaner vehicles. This includes up to £1 billion to help cement the UK’s leading position in the design and manufacture of zero emission vehicles; £1.3 billion to accelerate the roll out of charging infrastructure; and £582 million for vehicle grants to reduce the upfront cost to motorists making the switch. Our Transport Decarbonisation Plan, which we published earlier this Summer, made it clear that to decarbonise transport we don’t need to stop doing things, we just need to do them differently. Switching to zero emission vehicles will help us meet our emission targets, clean up the air in our communities, creating healthier places to live and work, and unlock new green jobs right across the country.
We have published a Green Paper on our new road vehicle CO2 emissions regulatory framework, which could include a zero emission mandate for manufacturers, so they sell an ever-increasing proportion of zero emission vehicles. We also plan to regulate to improve the consumer experience of charging electric vehicles and for every new home and non-residential development to have a chargepoint installed. We have recently published our 2035 Delivery Plan setting out our committed policy measures and investment over the coming years. We are working with our international partners in the run up to COP26 on how to accelerate the pace of the global transition to zero emission vehicles and address key challenges, enabling the transition to be faster, cheaper and easier for all. Later this year we will publish an Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Strategy, setting out our vision and how we will work with industry and local stakeholders to deliver it. I trust this is helpful and look forward to seeing ever increasing numbers of motorists make the switch to cleaner driving. Yours,
