UK Plans New Measures to Boost EV Sales, Transport Secretary Says
(Bloomberg) -- The UK plans to introduce new incentives to make it cheaper for people to buy new electric vehicles as the Labour government attempts to phase out the sale of polluting cars.
Speaking on Sunday, Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander confirmed she will be announcing new measures to boost sales of EVs this week but declined to directly address reports in the Telegraph and the Times that the incentives will include up to £700 million ($948 million) in new subsidies and grants to buyers to help offset costs.
“We will be making it cheaper for those who do want to make the switch to electric vehicles,” she told the BBC in an interview.
As part of those efforts, Alexander’s office on Sunday announced plans to invest £63 million in building charging points at homes and logistics depots around the UK, including funds for charging points at residences without driveways. Her department also outlined a £2.5 billion program to support automakers in the transition to zero-emission vehicle manufacturing.
The investments are part of the government’s efforts to boost new sales of EVs, which are on average more than twice as expensive as their petrol counterparts. The UK is Europe’s biggest EV market and the government has set a 2030 deadline to fully phase out sales of petrol- and diesel-powered automobiles and a 2035 cutoff for hybrids.
Sales statistics show automakers are falling short of government-mandated targets to increase the proportion of EVs sold ahead of those deadlines. Automakers have blamed the shortfall on consumer anxieties about the high cost of EVs and lack of charging stations.
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