Govt record on electric vehicles "frankly embarrassing," say Lib Dems

The news comes as the Prime Minister’s COP26 Spokesperson Allegra Stratton said she was sticking with her diesel car because of concerns about range and recharging - suggesting she would buy an EV if “the stop times for recharging improve so much that it’s half an hour.”

Rapid chargers will charge an EV from 0% to 80% in roughly the same time Ms Stratton desires, rather than the 8 hours that a standard “fast” charger takes.

Earlier this year, the Conservatives cut grants available to new electric vehicle owners and the number of new electric vehicle charging devices installed dropped by 30% last year compared to the year before.

Sarah Olney, Liberal Democrat Spokesperson for Transport, said:

“Once again the Tories are doing one thing but saying another. They say that by 2030 all new cars sold should be electric, yet they’re doing everything they can to put people off buying electric vehicles. Even the PM’s climate spokesperson says she doesn’t ‘fancy’ owning one.

“For a Government all too happy to grandstand about ambitious climate change targets, their record on electric vehicles is frankly embarrassing and tells you all you need to know about how seriously the Tories are taking the climate crisis.

“Liberal Democrats call on the Conservatives to reverse the damage they’ve done by increasing, not cutting, the Plug-In Car Grant and investing in more charging points - particularly rapid chargers in rural areas.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors

Previous analysis by the Party also revealed that less than one in five (19%) of all electric vehicles charging points in the UK are so-called “rapid chargers”, whereas nearly 6,000 public charging points fall into the slow bracket (3KW - 5KW) - which would take 13 hours to fully charge a Nissan Leaf.

The Government cut the Plug-In Car Grant by £500 earlier this year.

Department for Transport - Electric Vehicle Charging Device Statistics July 2021 can be found here.