Speech by Wera Hobhouse opening debate on transition to electric vehicles

Wera Hobhouse, Liberal Democrat MP for Bath, will tomorrow (at 1.30 pm) open a debate in Westminster Hall on support for the UK’s transition to electric vehicles by 2030. The following is an advance copy of her speech.

I beg to move that this house has considered ‘Support for the UK’s transition to Electric Vehicles by 2030. It is a pleasure to serve with you .. in the chair.

I would like to thank the Backbench Business Committee for granting this debate and all those colleagues across the house who have supported the application.

Clearly this is a topic that has attracted a lot of interest as the many emails I have received from a wide range of organisations including the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, Imperial College, UK Hospitality, Energy UK and the British Vehicle Renting and Leasing Association.

I also place on record the report of the Select Transport Committee of July this year on Zero Emission Vehicles, and the government’s response. 

Let me begin to say that I really welcome the government deadline for the end of selling new petrol and diesel vehicles by 2030. This cut off point both in the UK and in countries across Europe sends an unambiguous signal of change.

Petrol and diesel fuels made from fossil fuel is on the way out. There is simple reason –we have to limit global warming to 1.5 Degrees as soon as possible but by 2050 at the latest.

There is no planet B.

The transition from petrol and diesel-powered vehicles to vehicles powered by electricity is already happening.

We are here today to raise the main issues we need to consider to ensure the success of the transition. 

We have 9 years from today to complete that transition, a short time. 

As someone who has made that leap and got my first EV, I believe that, like others who have done the same, I will be in a good place to contribute to the debate and to steer government into making good policy choices for the next 9 years rather than poor ones. 

To get the transition right Parliamentarians and government ministers have to make informed choices, anticipate the consequences of our choices and to welcome scrutiny.

In the big debates so far on how to get to net zero the government too often defends its inaction by saying it is for the markets to make the transition work. I agree that the government doesn’t have to deliver all the changes and the investments. But the government has a crucial role to play to set the right policy frameworks from which the market and the private sector takes their cue.   

While there is progress in the uptake of EVs there continue to exist substantial barriers, many of which have already been raised in parliament, namely the high purchase price of EVs, the lack of charging points and the fear of being caught short while travelling.

All of them act as a constraint on the transition and many people continue with their petrol and diesel vehicles, delaying the transition. But time is short now. 

I therefore want to dig down to address the structural problems we have in the UK that result in these barriers and delays.

The UK is actually in a very good place to make this transition.

The transition to EVs only makes sense if the electricity they use is carbon zero. 

As long as half of our electricity is made by burning gas, why should people switch to something that from the consumers’ point of view is expensive, complicated and full of uncertainties? The consumer association Which? has found that that just 2 in 5 drivers signal some intent to buy an EV. This needs to change.

The first principle has to be that all our electric power is made from renewables. It would be a terrible failing of government if the people who make the commitment to go electric find that their carbon footprint is nearly as bad as it was with their petrol or diesel vehicle.

Britain compared to many EU countries is wonderfully placed to produce power from wind and waves, but we need to considerably upscale those technologies. 

In 20 years all our power – in fact more that all we need – could and should come from renewable energy. But the government must make it their first priority. No ifs, no buts. 

Renewable energy – particularly wind power – needs to be ten times larger by 2030. 

Can we power all EVs in 2030 from renewables? The answer is a resounding yes.

Let me move on to the challenges.

Upscaling renewables has of course challenges, not least in upskilling our workforce to take up the new net zero jobs while jobs in the fossil fuel industry are going. This needs forward planning and cooperation with our higher and further education sector. 

The upskilling of the workforce includes new jobs in the automotive industry and battery gigafactories. FE colleges are open and ready for the challenge but the government needs to invest in vocational training courses at all levels.  

The next challenge is the National Electric Grid. The increased production of new electricity- probably at least 3-fold - means that we need power cables that are big enough to take the increased load.

Our National Grid was built decades ago for much lower electric usage. 

It is obviously a problem that the National Grid is owned by a private company, but I will leave this problem for the government party that privatised it to solve.

The National Grid is a strategic network of cables bringing enough electricity into the edge of cities and towns, and then to the array of substations that feed the streets in each community. 

With an anticipated 3-fold increase in electricity usage, the domestic increase in demand will be for replacing gas with electric heating and cooking, and for EV charging if done from home. 

In most cases, the existing rating of 63 and 100 Amp should be sufficient. The real problem is within the grid, as every home will be using more electric but the grid overloads if too many homes are taking close to maximum power.

There is no hiding from the reality of a big new investment in our national electric grid, the laying of new bigger cables, building new substations and the uprating of existing substations for increased load. 

Waiting for this grid investment is the single biggest delay factor for rolling out EV charging. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders has undertaken an analysis that between 689 thousand and 2 point 3 million public chargers are required.

I go further than this. The Select Committee has recommended the Planning Bill makes public charge point provision a requirement of local plans, and the electric network must be assessed for weak spots. 

In ten years when most vehicles on the road are EVs, and in twenty years nearly all will be. 

So when we put in new grid infrastructure, it needs to be for every car in the future, not just enough cars as of now. 

It is disappointing that the government is only partially accepting the recommendations of the Select Committee. This means we have to fight for every penny, the grid investment comes later rather than sooner, and we are always behind the curve. 

We need to plan ahead.

But what are the concerns for EV owners and future owners. It is how to charge their vehicles. 

Let me deal with home or near-home charging first. Imagine two different homes. The first is a home with their own off-street parking. The second is a home with a pavement or more between them and the parking. That’s especially terraced homes or flats. In the first example, the charging can be done by the owner from their own electric supply. 

In the second example, the owner needs to use a supply offered by the local council who in most cases owns the pavements and roads. 

We need to have complete solutions for both. 

It is obvious that for the home with its own off street parking the charging solution is in the hands of the owner. Government does not need to get involved unless it wants to subsidise the equipment. 

However, for the homes without off street parking, they require government – and especially local government – to play a key role.

As it has been raised by the Transport Select Committee and many others, the variation in EV charging prices is a problem. 

The price of electricity is about 20 pence per kilowatt for EV charging from the home. I believe that the price for the second group of owners who need on-street charging should be almost the same. 

The current prices are usually in the range from 30 to 40 pence per kilowatt. 

This is not acceptable in the medium term. It is discriminatory against, many of those people who need the most help and encouragement to move to electric vehicles. 

For 20 pence per kilowatt on street or car park charging to work it will need to be run as a not- for- profit public service. 

This is the role for the Local Authority. 

It will need funding, it will need investment, it will the full cooperation from the National Grid. 

On a positive note, it will bring out the best in local government, in decisions and actions taken in close consultation and the assent of the local communities that they serve.

Councils up and down the country have declared a climate emergency and have committed to net zero by 2030. 

In my own Bath and North East Somerset Council they are fully committed to deliver a big roll-out of EV charging but they can’t because the grid capacity is not there. 

I am delighted that the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders agrees that we need; and I quote ‘a national strategic plan delivered locally to uplift the number of chargepoints and ensure the right type of chargers in the right places’. 

In my own city of Bath, there are cars parked bumper to bumper on many residential streets. In ten years, every single parking space should have a charge point – a bit like the old meters. 

So let’s put in this infrastructure all at the same time at much better value to the taxpayer, rather than piecemeal.

Finally, I want to touch on the final piece in the jigsaw for EV charging –

The away-from-home charging. 

I imagine the current network of petrol stations. How easy it could be to convert them to fast charging hubs. OK, it takes an hour or even a bit more to charge fast, but combined with a meal or snack it’s perfect. 

Once again, there will need to be substantial investment in the grid as fast charging uses a lot of electricity quickly. 

If everyone knew they could pull into what used to be a petrol station that was now a fast EV charging station, then the fear of being at the side of the motorway with a dead battery would disappear. 

The Transport Select Committee has already begun scrutiny of the government’s ‘Project Rapid’ their 950 million charging fund for strategic sites. 

It is clear that the level of ambition and funding is well below what is needed. 

To use a driving metaphor – we need to be driving this transition at 70 miles per hour, not 30 miles per hour. 

The Liberal Democrats pledged a financial investment of one hundred billion during this parliament for the transition to net zero. We are way off that.

In conclusion, by 2030 we can become a country where fossil fuels are no longer used for private transport. To do so requires political leadership. 

That we need alternatives to car use and bring in modal shifts and societal change away from our dependency on cars additional to the EV transition goes without saying.  

There is no planet B. Let’s speed up and deliver the change.