Now that the dust has settled on the pre-budget announcement about government money for electric and plug-in hybrids TheGreenCarWebsite.co.uk is calling for a government body to begin the full-scale installation of electric charging points in the many busy towns and cities of the UK to stimulate consumer choice in switching to an electrically powered vehicle.
Currently electric-powered vehicle ownership outside of London is but a distant dream for most, with a large, cosmopolitan city like Manchester boasting only a single charging point. Birmingham fairs even worse with not a single public charging point. The whole of Scotland possesses two, both in Glasgow, while in Wales there isn’t a single public charge point. This all makes depressing reading for a government promising a greener future and £5,000 towards a new electric car.
What is required is a coordinated, structured approach to ensure when 2011 comes around that millions of people can seriously look at an electric car as a means to solve their travel requirements.
TheGreenCarWebsite.co.uk would like the government to go much further in promoting the switch over to electric with:
- The installation of thousands of public charge points in the centres of cities by 2011
- The wholesale adaption of electric vehicles (where applicable) in the public services, with council vehicles recharging at council offices and sites around the country.
- The promise that any new congestion charge scheme in the country should exempt any electric vehicle from charges, currently this is not the case, as shown by the badly thought-out and ultimately thrown-out Manchester scheme.
- Free city centre parking in council run car parks and road side bays for electric vehicles.
While TheGreenCarWebsite.co.uk applauds the decision to stimulate the demand in electric and plug-in hybrid cars a huge amount of work is required otherwise this will be an investment only in London and not the UK.
Why not let us know what further incentives and schemes you would like to see introduced to boost demand in electric vehicles?
