We need to organise a range of stakeholders national and local government, energy providers and vehicle manufacturers to come together with a single goal to meet the electrification challenge.
How can we kick start this process, when car manufacturers are still dragging their heels in the ground to sell dinosaur fuelled cars.
Can we lobby to create a senior role in government to co-ordinate a full electrification strategy for the UK. A minister for electric transport who can work across all levels of government with the above mentioned stakeholders.
The results from recent surveys show confusion with consumers who still don’t even understand the basics of how the vehicles work.
Many still do not know enough about electric vehicle technology to consider buying an electric or electrified vehicle.
The electric car market is growing rapidly, around 136,600 pure electric cars on UK roads at the end of July 2020 with over 330,800 plug-in models including plug-in hybrids (PHEVs).
The most recent set of figures from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) show that pure-electric models accounted for 4.7% of total new car registrations, whilst adding in PHEVs takes that figure up to 9%
There have been calls for 15% of new cars produced to be electric. All brands in the UK would have to be a full EV within a decade – as opposed to the current CO2-based target, which requires car manufacturers to achieve an average fleet emissions target or face fines.
A new national survey of two-car families in the UK, commissioned, revealed that the public wants government action and is ready for more affordable cars that do not create emissions.
Currently less than 1% (under 100,000) of the 32 million cars on the road in the UK are fully electric.
Quotas will be required in order to meet the earliest phase out date (2035) for the sale of petrol and diesel cars proposed by the Government.
The majority of two-car families have off-road parking, they rarely/never drive their second car more than 50 miles in a day and have another car for all longer trips.
If this same majority converted to electric, there would be approximately 5.7 million more electric cars on the road !
The UK is lagging behind other European countries. In the first quarter of 2019, total electrical chargeable vehicle registrations – hybrids and fully electric vehicles – increased by just 2.9 per cent, compared to the EU average of 40 per cent. France and Germany registered 10,569 and 15,944 fully electric vehicles respectively; the UK figure is just 5,997.
One key reason for slow sales compared to the rest of Europe is last year’s decision by the British government to cut subsidies for pure electric cars from £4,500 to £3,500, and to completely eliminate the £2,500 grant for hybrid vehicles. This increased the price of already expensive vehicles. When Tesla lost its $7,500 (£5,890) US federal tax credit at the start of 2019, demand for the two-year-old Model 3 sedan declined sharply. Only 63,000 were delivered in the first three months of 2019, compared to 90,966 in the fourth quarter of last year.
Currently George Freeman is the minister of state for the UK and his role is:
- transport technology and innovation
- Future of Mobility Grand Challenge
- decarbonisation and environment
- Office for Low Emission Vehicles
- Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles
- spaceports
- devolution and housing
- East-West Arc connectivity
- Shadow roads Minister in the Commons
If you read his current duties electrification doesn’t even come onto his radar
https://www.gov.uk/government/ministers/minister-of-state-for-transport–3
So come on lets have a minister for electrification and get the EV revolution truly happening in the UK.