(Warwick and Leamington) (Lab):...Developing the
technology is one thing; commercialising it is another. We
presently have zero gigafactories, while other countries already
have them or are establishing them. Sadly, we missed out on
Tesla, which decided to invest in Germany, in a
factory just outside Berlin, to produce batteries, battery packs,
powertrains for use in Tesla vehicles, and to
manufacture the new Tesla Model Y. It will produce
500,000 units a year, employing 7,000 people. The company was
attracted to the UK, so Elon Musk says. However,
it wanted to be at the centre of Europe, so, sadly, the Brexit
decision meant that it was a safer bet for Teslato
invest elsewhere.
As Tesla shows, an industrial strategy needs to
be underpinned by a super-low-carbon energy strategy. The energy
needs of manufacturing must be supplied by renewables and
low-carbon sources, particularly given that the manufacturing
processes demanded in EV production cost up to one-third higher
than those for an internal combustion engine vehicle...
...For motorway travel, 7,000 150 kW charge points will be
needed in motorway service areas. According to the electric
vehicle charging app Zap-Map, the UK currently has only 19,000
on-street charge points. That means we will need to install more
than 500 chargers across the UK every day to meet our 2035
target. Although those numbers seem huge, they are what is needed
if we are to address consumer perceptions and recharging fears.
According to a recent Savanta ComRes survey on behalf of the
Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, 44% of car owners are
discouraged from buying an EV because of a perceived lack of
local chargers. If we are to meet this challenge,
Governments at every level need to work with the
private sector and the local energy distribution networks, and in
partnership with charge point providers such as
Tesla, BP Chargemaster and others, to deliver
the EV charging infrastructure...
(Gedling) (Con):...I consider myself to be a
relatively young man whose childhood was not very long ago, but
when I was a child, the epitome of an electric vehicle was the
Sinclair C5 —a low-volume, hopelessly impractical vehicle that
could only ever appeal to the eccentric. Only a short few decades
later, the exemplar of an electric vehicle, as the hon. Gentleman
has outlined, is the Tesla, a car which has made
manufacturers
“sit up and take notice.”
Those are not my words; they are the words of Top Gear
magazine...
To read the whole debate, CLICK
HERE
