Transport Committee says Government needs to do more to boost plug-in vehicle uptake
Thu 20 September 2012
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The cross-party Transport Select Commitee of MPs has issued a report following its inquiry into low carbon vehicles which questions whether Government support is being effective in boosting demand for plug-in vehicles and whether it is a good use of public money.
The report ‘Plug-In Vehicles, Plugged-In Policy?’ comments on the Government’s efforts to stimulate consumer demand for plug-in vehicles and the role of electric vehicle infrastructure. The report examines a number of areas including uptake of low carbon vehicles, interoperability of charging infrastructure and government spending.
Louise Ellman MP, Committee Chair, said: "The Government must do more to show that its plug-in vehicle strategy is a good use of public money. Carbon emissions from transport must be reduced if the UK is to meet its climate change targets, but public money must be targeted on effective policies.
"So far, Department for Transport expenditure on plug-in cars – some £11 million – has benefited just a handful of motorists. We were warned of the risk that the Government is subsidising second cars for affluent households; currently plug-in cars are mostly being purchased as second cars for town driving.
"It is also unclear whether the provision of public charging infrastructure encourages demand for plug-in cars. Indeed, the Government does not even have a register of all the chargepoints installed at public expense.
"Ministers should not sit back and hope that the Government’s policy on plug-in cars will reduce transport carbon emissions. Far more work is required to ensure that this programme is a good use of public funds."
Amongst its key conclusions the Committee stresses that Government must avoid creating instability in the plug-in vehicle market through a lack of consistency between departments in their approaches to financial incentives for plug-in vehicles and adopt a more coordinated approach across Whitehall.
It also recommends that Government sets up milestones for the number of vehicles expected on the roads and clarifies the reasons for the under spend in its low carbon vehicle programme.
The Committee says that establishing an accurate and comprehensive registry of chargepoints installed by the Plugged-In Places scheme should be a priority and that it should be made available within the next six months.
The Committee also says that the DfT should set out how it intends to reach agreement in the EU on the type of infrastructure to be used as standard for plug-in vehicles.
In its response to the report the SMMT Chief Executive Paul Everitt said that the automotive industry supports government policies that promote the uptake of low and ultra-low carbon vehicles and that Government needs to commit to incentives beyond 2015 to give confidence to business, consumers and investors.
Paradoxically, the Transport Committee report is published shortly after the Department for Transport released data showing an acceleration in the rate of uptake of grants to support the purchase of plug-in vehicles. The statistics show that from the beginning of April to the end of June 2012, 473 new electric cars were purchased as part of the plug-in grant scheme, which offers buyers £5,000 off the list price of 10 electric car models.
This is more than double the 215 cars registered over the same period in 2011and also represents a significant increase on the 371 purchased during the first quarter of 2012. It takes the number of claims made to the end of June up to a total of 1,706 – more than double the 680 registered by the end of June 2011.
DfT also said that 99 claims have been made through the Plug-in Van Grant scheme, which was introduced in February this year offering drivers £8,000 off the price of new electric vans.
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