Put your foot down on Electric Vehicles!

WHO KNOWS what’s happening with the transition to electric vehicles? We all know it would be a Good Thing because it would cut carbon emissions – but it seems that no one can figure out how to do it.

It seems to be a case of “you take your right foot out” and “you put your left foot back in again” – either we’re doing the hokey cokey or we’re about to fall over. We’re putting our foot down, but we don’t know if it’s on the accelerator or the brake.

The last Tory Government caused uproar when it said that all private motor vehicles sold in the UK after 2030 would have to be electric. The public were just beginning to calm down and get used to the idea when Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced that he was putting the brakes on again, and the end date for petrol car sales would be put back to 2035. He suggested this was because car manufacturers would not be ready for 2030. The manufacturers responded that they had in fact been working to the 2030 deadline and it would be difficult to switch back to dual production for an extra five years.

Then the Kier Starmer Government was elected, with a manifesto commitment to bring the date forward to 2030 again. That’s why Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander MP popped up just before Christmas and announced a consultation on how to get back on track with the 2030 deadline. Before you rush to put pen to paper – or fingertip to keyboard – it seems that the government consultation is with the car manufacturing industry, not the car-driving public.

The move comes as sales of electric vehicles remain volatile in a new vehicle market which is in overall decline. Changing over to electric vehicles seems to depend less on manufacturers turning out new ones for us to buy – and more on the difficulty of keeping the things charged up. It’s hard for city-dwellers to charge cars at home, and it’s hard to find a functioning charging point within your vehicle’s range for rural drivers and those trying to make long journeys. If the Starmer Government is to deliver on 2030, Alexander will have to find funds to develop a much larger and more reliable charging infrastructure – while keeping traditional petrol stations open for drivers who are hanging on to their old vehicles.

●Meanwhile Tower Hamlets Council seems to be holding its cards close to its chest. A press release issued on 9th February 2024 announced that the Cabinet had approved the installation of over 2,200 new electric vehicle charging points across the borough in the following two years – building on the 327 street lighting column charging points and 23 fast charging electric vehicle points. It’s nearly a year since that decision was taken. It would be nice to have an update on progress.

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