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The UK government has welcomed the recommendations made by the House of Lords Environment and Climate Change Committee in its “EV strategy: rapid recharge needed” report looking into electric vehicles and given its official response.
The report, published in February 2024, outlined recommendations that the committee felt would allow the UK to have ‘a successful transition to electric vehicles (EVs)’, which it deemed ‘essential if the government is to meet its legally-binding net zero target by 2050’.
The government agreed with several of the report’s recommendations. One such recommendation was that the government should be more proactive in communicating ‘clear, authoritative and trustworthy’ information about the positives of transitioning to EVs. The government acknowledged the importance of this and pointed towards guidance documents it has published on EVs, emphasising that it is is also ‘taking proactive action to counter inaccurate information presented by the media on the subject of EVs, when this arises’.
It also agreed with the sentiment that ‘to ensure maintenance costs remain reasonable, there must be enough skilled mechanics trained to maintain EVs’. In reponse, it noted that the number of EV-qualified technicians in the UK has ‘risen rapidly’, with over 52,000 individuals (22% of all technicians) already qualified to work on an EV, according to the Institute of the Motor Industry. It said it has endorsed schemes to train technicians to safely repair EVs and said that the ZEV mandate ‘will ensure the flow of new EVs into the UK market, providing certainty for businesses and individual mechanics to invest in upskilling’.
Furthermore, the government agreed that it should ‘set and communicate clear timelines and deadlines for the Local Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (LEVI) fund and provide sufficient time for application preparation’. It responded by saying it ‘endeavours to communicate clear timelines and deadlines as soon as practical’ and ‘has taken on board feedback from Tranche 1 of the LEVI fund and extended the time available for local authorities to apply to Tranche 2 of the fund’.
Amongst the recommendations that the government expressed disagreement with was that which suggested the government ‘explore options for equalising the VAT differential between public and domestic charging by reducing the 20% VAT rate applied to public charging to 5% in line with domestic electricity’. Read more
Source: LOGISTICS MANAGER
