Strategy to promote plug-in vehicles not driving widespread uptake

According to a report from the House of Commons Transport Committee, consumer demand for plug-in cars and vans remains very low and the Government grant to encourage demand may not be proving effective.  The Plug-In Car Grant was launched in January 2011 and is aimed at both private consumers and businesses. The Grant offers 25% off the vehicle price, up to a value of £5,000. Eligible vehicles can be electric, plug-in hybrid or hydrogen-fuelled, but must comply with certain performance, environmental and safety standards in order to be eligible. Ultra-low emission vehicles can benefit from tax exemptions including Vehicle Excise Duty, reduced Company Car Tax and other local measures such as congestion charge exemptions. To give an idea of how many vans/cars have taken up the grant so far, since the inception in 2011, 1,052 eligible plug-in car grant vehicles were registered, compared to 111 in 2010.  Not nearly enough according to MP's. Launching a new report from the Transport Select Committee on the Government’s plug-in vehicle strategy, Louise Ellman MP, Committee Chair, warned: “So far, Department for Transport expenditure on plug-in cars – some £11 million – has benefited just a handful of motorists. We were warned of the risk that the Government is subsidising second cars for affluent households; currently plug-in cars are mostly being purchased as second cars for town driving. It is also unclear whether the provision of public charging infrastructure encourages demand for plug-in cars. Indeed, the Government does not even have a register of all the charge points installed at public expense."

The committee members offered recommendations they feel will make sure the programme makes good use of public funds. Here are a few taken from the House of Commons Transport Committee report:

• As part of the next spending review, the Government should set milestones for the numbers of plug-in cars it expects to see on the roads so that the success of its low carbon vehicles strategy can be assessed within that spending review period.


• The DfT should evaluate how effectively the provision of public infrastructure is encouraging consumer demand for plug-in vehicles.


• Making sure that vehicle owners can access charge points across the UK should be a priority within the DfT’s plug-in vehicle strategy. The DfT should also set out how it will work to remove barriers to charge point access across the country.


• An accurate and comprehensive registry of charge points installed by the Plugged-In Places scheme should be made available within the next six months. Publication of a full registry should encourage private charge point providers to upload their data for public use. It should be made a requirement of Plugged-In Places funding that location details for charge points installed using this funding are uploaded to the National Charge point Registry.


• Plugged-In Places funding should include provision for measures to promote public awareness of the charging infrastructure and the plug-in vehicles grant.

To view all of the committee recommendations and to read the report in its entirety, please click here to be taken to the UK Parliament website (House of Commons Transport Committee - publications).