Oral Answers to Questions

Bill Esterson Excerpts

Thursday 17th March 2022 Commons Chamber

[Sarah Green (Chesham and Amersham) (LD)]

1. What steps his Department is taking to encourage the use of electric vehicles.

[Bill Esterson (Sefton Central) (Lab)]

11. What steps he is taking to improve the (a) quantity and (b) reliability of public electric vehicle charging stations.

[The Secretary of State for Transport (Grant Shapps)]

The Government have committed £2.5 billion to vehicle grants and infrastructure to support the transition to electric vehicles.

[Grant Shapps]

We are always looking at what more we can do. We put in £1.9 billion in the 2020 spending review, and we have enhanced that with an extra £620 million for the transition. I will always look at what else can be done. Electric vehicles—I can attest to this because I have driven one for several years—are dramatically cheaper than equivalent fuel vehicles, albeit that the infrastructure needs to be got right to make sure that they are chargeable.

[Bill Esterson]

The UK needs 480,000 EV charging points if we are to transition to electric vehicles. So far there are 28,000 publicly available charging points, and only 1,000 on-street charging points outside London. Last year, just 7,600 new charging points were installed. At this rate, we will have to wait until 2080 for everyone to be able to use an electric car. These figures are from the National Infrastructure Commission. How does the Secretary of State expect motorists to be able to play their part in the move to net zero if the Government are not delivering the charging infrastructure?