Dear Ed Milband – Reply from Dept of Transport on reducing EV charging costs and vehicle emissions
Following on from our open letter to Ed Miliband last month, we have received a formal reply from the OZEV Team at the Department of Transport.
As a reminder, we asked for clarification on government support to help people transition away from diesel and petrol vehicles and to reduce EV charging costs. We offered a range of suggestions, such as cash discounts, tax credits and other allowance incentives to encourage people to buy electric or similar zero-emissions vehicles and to ditch their dirty diesel cars or vans.
So what do we think of the letter? We are pleased about some bits such as financial support to local councils to encourage charging point installation. Though we would like to see more on what, if any, requirements there are to keep charging costs down – especially for those people in cities that do not have driveways that can give them access to low-energy tariffs from their electricity suppliers.
Their position on the banning of new sales of internal combustion engines (ICEs) is confusing to say the least. They say on the one hand they will NOT be changing the legislation (where 20% of new car sales can be ICE by 2030 instead of 0% as they promised) while on the other hand they say “There will be no sales of pure combustion engine cars from 2030”. Which one is it? Their position is frustratingly opaque and is not helped by their ‘wait and see’ position. We know that the government is under severe pressure from the big car manufacturers to loosen the ICE ban legislation due to a slowing of EV demand. Our open letter argued that the government response should be to offer more incentives to increase demand – not to weaken the legislation. This suggests they are trying to be seen to do both. Is it a case of trying to please everyone all the time – while avoiding the issue of reducing emissions and saving the planet? We will keep you posted if we hear more.
Below is their response in full.
“Dear CampervanCo,
Thank you for your letter of 28 October to the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero about the transition to zero emission vehicles. Your letter was passed to the Office for Zero Emission Vehicles (OZEV) for a response. The Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate is a world-leading legislative framework which sets annual headline targets for vehicle manufacturers for the registration of zero emission cars and vans starting at 22% and 10% in 2024 and rising to 80% and 70% in 2030. In the ZEV Mandate the UK has the most ambitious regulatory framework of its kind in the world, shaped through continued engagement with industry. The scheme design includes a range of flexibilities that ensure manufacturers have the tools they need to comply, and as a result not all manufacturers are required to meet the headline targets. By setting a clear trajectory, the ZEV Mandate provides investment certainty to industry, already unlocking £6 billion of charging infrastructure investment.
The Mandate also includes a credit specifically for car clubs, which are a form of vehicle sharing that enable users to access zero emission vehicles at a low cost so they can experience the technology for themselves. Selling a zero emission vehicle (either a car or a van) to a qualifying car club will earn a manufacturer 0.5 credits, for reference a manufacturer requires 1.0 credits for every non-zero emission car they sell. In addition to the car club credit, the Mandate incentivises the creation of zero emission special purpose vehicles, for example ambulances, motor caravans, and hearses, by awarding a 1.0 bonus credit for every zero emission model type approved as such and sold in the UK. A 1.5 credit is awarded for zero emission vehicles type approved as wheelchair accessible. These credits include vehicles based on multi-stage conversions by third parties.
The Government is committed to phasing out new cars that rely solely on internal combustion engines by 2030 and wants to provide certainty and ensure consumers can benefit from more efficient vehicles, as they take action to clean up the UK’s transport system.
The ZEV Mandate already requires 80% of all new cars to be ZEV by 2030. The Government is not proposing to change this. There will be no sales of pure combustion engine cars from 2030 under its plans, and they will set out more details on specific 2030-35 requirements for both cars and vans shortly. The UK’s public charging infrastructure is expanding rapidly with, on average, 57 new public chargepoints every day so far this year according Government statistics and ZapMap, with over 71,000 now across the UK. We can assure you that the Government is committed to working with industry and local authorities (LAs) to make EV charging infrastructure more affordable and accessible, particularly for those without off-street parking. We acknowledge this requires a variety of chargepoint solutions.
Government is supporting the roll-out of public charging infrastructure through the £381m Local EV Infrastructure (LEVI) fund. This will support the installation of tens of thousands of local chargers, ensuring the rollout supports drivers in every part of the country. As of November 2024, all upper tier LAs have been allocated funding and are actively engaged with the LEVI Fund.
LEVI funding has been allocated to LAs as they are best placed to understand what charging infrastructure their residents need and have a key role in planning and enabling the delivery of chargepoints to meet the needs of their areas. As part of the application process, LAs are required to demonstrate how they will ensure chargepoints benefit residents without access to off-street parking and consider other measures that they will take to ensure residents have access to the chargepoints installed through their project. Application proposals consider a variety of local charging solutions including pedestals, lamp column chargepoints and cross-pavement solutions, to meet their residents’ needs.
Thank you for taking the time to write to us.
Yours sincerely
The OZEV Team”
To re-read our open letter to Ed, click on the link below:
Written by gary.hayes