Reacting to reports that the sale of petrol and diesel cars will
be brought forward to 2030, the RAC's head of roads policy
Nicholas Lyes said: “While extremely ambitious, this announcement
doesn’t come as a huge surprise as there’s an urgent need to
reduce the emissions generated from vehicle use.
"The car industry clearly now faces a monumental challenge to
change its production lines, and electric vehicle charging
infrastructure will need to be expanded at an incredible pace to
cope with the surge in electric vehicles (‘EVs’) coming on to our
roads. We believe many more rapid charging devices are needed in
order to give drivers the confidence that they can make longer
journeys in a convenient and time efficient manner. While many
people, especially those with off-street parking, will charge
their vehicles overnight at home, this won’t be possible for
everyone so access to a reliable national charging network is
vital to make the process of recharging simple and convenient.
“It also remains the case that the upfront cost of electric
vehicles is currently far too high for most people to afford when
comparing them to an equivalent-sized conventional vehicle, so
prices will have to come down dramatically in order to make them
a realistic option for more people and spark take-up quickly.
Unfortunately, at the moment EVs are something of a rarity on the
used car market which is something that needs to change as around
eight million people a year buy second-hand cars, many more than
buy brand-new vehicles. For now, the Government should focus on
how it can better incentivise consumers to go electric.
“The Government also now needs to work out how it’s going to plug
the inevitable hole in fuel duty revenue that the switch to EVs
will create. Currently, it collects around £28bn a year from fuel
duty so the Treasury will need to quickly devise a new system
that is fair for all drivers.”
