Ken McMeikan, chief executive of Top 50 Indie Moto Hospitality is calling on the government to help thwart the slowdown in electric vehicle sales to private buyers by transforming the planning system and bringing back subsidies encouraging motorists to go electric.
Latest figures from the SMMT earlier this week show that electric vehicle sales to private buyers had fallen by just over 25% in January, compared with an almost 42% uplift in registrations by fleet buyers.
McMeikan has called on the Chancellor to bring back subsidies such as the plug-in car grant, as well as to pause in the introduction of EV vehicle duty in the spring Budget. “This would tackle the number one barrier to EV adoption and encourage and incentivise more private buyers to transition to electric cars,” he says.
Also, McMeikan says he is in agreement with the House of Lords’ Environment and Climate Change Committee report issued this week, which says the installation of rapid chargers on the UK’s strategic road network is critical to consumer confidence in switching to EVs. “It’s therefore vital that the government pushes on with its decision to transform the planning system in favour of delivering low-carbon energy projects and prioritise EV charging hubs, so we can continue the rapid expansion of charging infrastructure on the UK’s motorways,” he says.
Last month, McMeikan called on the government to declare all 2,300 miles of the UK’s motorway network a national priority to be given access to sufficient power from the grid, so that service station operators could install sufficient ultra-rapid chargers for the growing fleet of electric vehicles.
