In 2017, the Treasury made a big play about its plans to support a switch to zero-emission vehicles when it announced a £400m fund to help set up and support a charging infrastructure.
While 50 percent of the money was due to come from the taxpayer, half was to come from the private sector.
The announcement was made in the Autumn Budget but, six months on, what have we got as a result?
Zip, zilch, nothing! The government hasn’t even recruited the official designated with the responsibility to contact private investors. That, apparently, isn’t going to happen until Summer 2018.
According to the government, it’s taking so long as they want to set up the fund in “the most effective way.”
Car manufacturers say that the fund will be crucial in growing the market for plug-in cars, which stood at just 2 percent last year. Currently there are about 16,000 charging points in the UK, serving 130,000 plug-in hybrid and pure electric cars.
The failure of the government to move quicker on this is a real disappointment. The door is ajar, according to recent market research over a third of consumers say that they’d consider buying a fully electric vehicle.
I’m all for giving people the benefit of the doubt but a failure to secure a penny of investment smacks of incompetence at best, indifference at worst.
