General Posted: 30 October, 2023. Written by Anthony Sammie
Here at the Electric Vehicle Consumer Code (EVCC), we work hard to raise standards of consumer protection and create confidence in consumers to install EV chargepoints at their homes. This helps to ensure that the transition to EVs is smooth and encourages sector growth.
That’s why when the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, announced that Government would be easing the transition to electric vehicles from 2030 to 2035, those at EVCC were disappointed. EVCC believes that Government should remain steadfast on its previous decision to ban the sale of petrol and diesel vehicles from 2030, given it is a more progressive move towards decarbonising the sector and meeting our net zero target by 2050.
However, EVCC’s disappointment has been softened over the last few weeks by a series of further announcements from Government. The ZEV mandate represents Government’s latest announcements about the path to zero emissions by 2030 and will apply to England, Wales and Scotland from January 2024. This has been updated and includes the announcement, among others, that 80% of new cars and 70% of new vans sold in Great Britain will be zero emissions by 2030, with the percentage of zero electric vehicles sold by 2035 expected to be 100% of the market.
In March 2022 the Government published its Electric Vehicle (EV) Infrastructure Strategy. The Government set out that over £6 billion had already been committed by the UK charging industry to be spent before 2030, and their expectation that over 300,000 public chargepoints would be installed by 2030.
Government also recently announced that it would invest £200 million to drive innovation and get more zero emission trucks on our roads, to assist with creating new jobs and providing necessary infrastructure to enable decarbonisation of freight vehicles. This initiative is likely to assist with delivering on our net zero commitments.
EVCC encourages Government to see its responsibility to set the tone and take firm leadership in this transition.
Lorraine Haskell, Head of Membership (REAL), which administers EVCC said:
“If Government is serious about its commitment to being a world leader in renewable energy, it should have remained firm in its to stance to move towards the uptake of electrical vehicles in the UK by 2030. The Prime Minister mentioned that is aligning with other countries, but by taking this new position, the UK Government has missed an opportunity to be a standard bearer on the uptake of electrical vehicles. However, it is heartening to see some positive moves towards decarbonising the sector.
We need to maintain high standards of work. As install numbers ramp up, we need to make sure consumers are getting the right install for them and have the confidence to install chargepoints at home, using decent and reputable installers, to help deliver this increase in installations.”
With the recent announcements on our mind, EVCC stands ready to assist with strengthening the transitioning process to EVs by 2035.
More on the ZEV Mandate can be found here