Transition To Electric Vehicles

3 July 2020

The UK has set a green industrial revolution for the automotive industry with the transition to vehicles with some form of electrification. The UK is already well placed to commit to the transition and has been working on ways to encourage more and more of the population to make the switch. A transition to zero emission vehicles will support the UK’s goal to end its contribution to climate targets. Find out more on how this will be achieved below:

Green number plates

Part of the Governments aim to encourage the public to change their vehicle for an electric model is by introducing green number plates. Green number plates will be available for electric cars in Autumn 2020. These will be for full electric vehicles that have 0 exhaust emissions only. The number plates will display a green flash on the left hand side, instead of having a full green background.

The number plates will not be mandatory for everybody with a 0 emission vehicle, but people will be able to opt in when they purchase their new electric vehicle.

The Department for Transport hopes that the number plates will act as a way to raise awareness of the green revolution and encourage more drivers to become involved.

No new models of diesel and petrol

Current plans are to end the sale of new models of diesel and petrol cars and vans in 2040, meaning that no new models will be produced. The government is consulting on bringing this date forward to 2035. This will further accelerate the transition, if agreed.

As more people begin to make the switch, it will inundate the used car market with petrol and diesel models at a lower price. This could cause those who want to spend less on a vehicle to be swayed towards buying these at the lower cost. The used car market has already seen dramatic price reductions for used diesel vehicles, which is expected to continue.

Infrastructure

There are many areas in the UK that do not have the necessary infrastructure for electric vehicles. Without charging points people are unlikely to consider an electric vehicle. To combat this, the government have pledged £2.5bn toward extending electric vehicle grants for charging points to be built on roads, residential streets, homes, and work places. Currently there are 18,350 charging points across 11,424 locations in the UK. According to ZapMap, there are still 40 towns across the UK without a single charging point – so there is still a way to go.