Monday 8 March 2021

Podcast: The challenge is clear – we have nine years to make 100% of new vehicle sales electric

Podcast: The challenge is clear – we have nine years to make 100% of new vehicle sales electric

With one-in-ten new vehicle sales in the UK in 2020 being plug-in hybrids (PHEVs) or full electric vehicles (EVs), the challenge is clear – we have nine years to get to ten-in-ten vehicle sales being electric.

That's the suggestion from Natasha Mahmoudian, Head of Public Affairs for Electric Vehicles at Centrica Business Solutions, who spoke to future Net Zero Founder Sumit Bose about how despite seeing recent progress, more needs to be done to accelerate EV adoption.

She said: "It's a pretty big challenge and there's a lot of items coming through around infrastructure, which I think is going to be absolutehttps://futurenetzero.com/british-gas-business/ly pivotal, I think it's generally agreed that charging infrastructure's pretty difficult to access sometimes, there's been great progress in rolling it out but definitely more needs to be done.

"Key to achieving this goal will also be increasing the supply of affordable electric vehicles and ensuring that the flexibility of UK’s energy system continues to evolve in support of electrification."

Natasha highlighted a number of recent funding announcements in several key areas of the EV picture, including the government's scaling-up of the rapid charging fund from £500 million to £950 million to build more fast chargers at motorway charging stations and on strategic roads to "help everyone get around the backbone of the UK".

She also pointed to a new £90 million fund for local rapid charging and the increase in finance for on-street charging rising from £10 million to £20 million, as well as extensions to workplace charging and home charging schemes to help fund the initial purchase of charging points.

Written by

Bruna Pinhoni

Trending Articles