Alex Buttle, director of car selling comparison
website Motorway.co.uk comments:
“The government already had its work cut out to
meet its 2040 deadline, and endless confusion over Brexit and the
car industry’s future haven’t helped its
cause.
"By cutting that deadline by five years, it has
brought even more pressure on itself. Now is clearly the time for
action rather than words.
“If the government is to stand a chance of meeting such an
ambitious target, the challenge remains the same as before; they
must improve the UK’s EV infrastructure and encourage early
switching to electric cars.
"While more could be done to incentivise car owners to
switch, and the government needs to look closely at the schemes
that are on offer; the major issue remains access to charging
points.
"There is clearly resistance from car owners to switch
until they are confident there's a charging infrastructure in
place that will be able to cope with demand.
“Although the green argument is a powerful one, and many of
us would happily drive less polluting cars, too many people who
rely on their vehicles every day are concerned about the number
of available public and private electric charging
points.
“When we polled UK drivers recently about switching to
electric, an inadequate charging infrastructure was the most
common reason cited by respondents as to why they wouldn’t
consider switching to an electric car over the next five
years.
“At least now Brexit has taken a back seat, for the time
being, the government can refocus its attention on getting its
ambitious 'Road to Zero' strategy back on
track."
