Press Story

Mark Rowney, IPPR Research Fellow, said:

"Doubts over the continued funding of charging point infrastructure had been causing uncertainty in the UK automotive industry. Today's government announcement marks a change in strategy from piloting infrastructure installation, which has led to a postcode lottery of support, to the beginnings of a strategically planned national charging infrastructure. A long-term carbon reduction target for central government public procurement would also be a welcome step in supporting the UK automotive industry. However, a commitment of support to the end of this Parliament does not give the automotive industry the medium-term certainty it sorely needs. We still need a cross party consensus for the low carbon automotive industry and for charge point installation on a national scale."

Notes to editors:

For the full Government announcement, see:
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-measures-announced-to-support-the-uptake-of-plug-in-vehicles

For more on IPPR research on low carbon vehicles, see:
http://ippr.org/research-project/44/10290/low-carbon-vehicles-can-britain-lead-the-transition

Contact:

Tessa Evans, 07875727298, t.evans@ippr.org

Richard Darlington, 07525 481 602, r.darlington@ippr.org