PLUG-IN VEHICLES by Parliamentary Yearbook

PLUG-IN VEHICLES

The Parliamentary Yearbook is currently gathering news items for major features on sustainable energy and climate change in the next edition and has been monitoring progress on the Government’s drive to support the uptake of ultra low carbon vehicles

Launching a new report last week from the Transport Select Committee on the Government's plug-in vehicle strategy, Louise Ellman MP, Committee Chair, warned that Consumer demand for plug-in vehicles remains very low and the Government grant to encourage demand may not be proving effective.

Over 90% of the UK’s domestic transport emissions come from road transport. Low carbon vehicles offer a potential means by which road transport can be decarbonised. The Government expects to see tens of thousands of plug-in vehicles on the roads by 2015 as part of its Plug-In Vehicle Infrastructure Strategy. The Committee inquired into the potential for plug-in vehicles to contribute to decarbonising transport and Government action to facilitate this.

In December last year Norman Baker MP, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State in the Department for Transport, announcing funding for plug-in vehicles, said

“Biofuels are though just one part of a wider strategy to encourage growth and cut carbon. For example, we are also committed to supporting the uptake of ultra low carbon vehicles in the United Kingdom.

“£400m has been made available for consumer incentives to purchase plug-in vehicles, a program to support recharging infrastructure and targeted research, development and demonstration projects.

“In June, we published a comprehensive electric vehicle recharging infrastructure strategy that sets out how we are ensuring that plug-in vehicles are an attractive choice for the motorist, how we are making it easier for individuals to charge their vehicles and making it easier for the both the private and public sector to provide recharging infrastructure by removing regulatory barriers.”

However, Louise Ellman MP, Chair of the Transport Select Committee now warns:

"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."

Recommendations

The Committee recommends:

·         The Department for Transport should clarify the reasons for the under spend in its low carbon vehicle programme

·         As part of the next spending review, the Government should set milestones for the numbers of plug-in cars it expects to see on the roads so that the success of its low carbon vehicles strategy can be assessed within that spending review period

·         The DfT should evaluate how effectively the provision of public infrastructure is encouraging consumer demand for plug-in vehicles.

·         Making sure that vehicle owners can access chargepoints across the UK should be a priority within the DfT's plug-in vehicle strategy. The DfT should also set out how it will work to remove barriers to chargepoint access across the country

·         An accurate and comprehensive registry of chargepoints installed by the Plugged-In Places scheme should be made available within the next six months. Publication of a full registry should encourage private chargepoint providers to upload their data for public use. It should be made a requirement of Plugged-In Places funding that location details for chargepoints installed using this funding are uploaded to the National Chargepoint Registry

·         Plugged-In Places funding should include provision for measures to promote public awareness of the charging infrastructure and the plug-in vehicles grant

·         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

·         The 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 these vehicles and adopt a more coordinated approach to such incentives across Whitehall

The Parliamentary Information Office will continue to report on environmental issues and their impact on the UK as we go through the months ahead.