It’s not a new point, but it really is about time the Government made up its mind on electric vehicles and whether it sees them as a viable low-CO2 transport alternative worth throwing its weight behind.
The mixed messages are a cause of huge frustration for companies looking to risk investing in what is still a more expensive, and unproven in the long term, option.
Reasons to be positive include the Energy Saving Trust being given another £300,000 to continue its Plugged-in Fleets Initiative designed to encourage EV use among businesses, the current low benefit-in-kind bands for electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, and the £5000 subsidy towards their purchase in the first place.
However, there are reasons to worry about the Government’s long-term commitment to establishing electric vehicles.
The current huge ramp-up of benefit-in-kind payments from April 2015 is now looming large, and the hope is that it will be addressed in March’s Budget.
But to that we can now add the Government’s rejection of a series of measures recommended in a Transport Committee report, which contained suggestions that could help electric vehicle uptake.
This fragile fledgling technology needs universal backing because we’re at a tipping point where businesses have enough information to be confident about investing, as long as they know their faith and fortune are safe for the long haul.