RAC head of policy Simon Williams said: “We welcome this
important and far-reaching report from the House of Lords and
urge the Government to take the recommendations it makes
seriously.
“We have long argued that mass uptake of EVs – which is the
Government’s aim – depends on prices falling to make them the
natural choice for more people, so we are particularly pleased to
see the Committee supporting the introduction of targeted grants
for new electric cars, aimed at the more affordable end of the
market.
“We believe the UK was too hasty in scrapping the plug-in car
grant as it did lead to more lower-priced models being
introduced. Without further financial support, it will be a long
time before the majority of drivers will be able to afford to
make the switch to electric.
“The Committee rightly acknowledges the important role the 2023
Public Charge Point Regulations will play in ensuring drivers
benefit from good quality public charging infrastructure in the
future, and we’re pleased to see its suggestion that elements of
the UK’s first Public Charging Charter – which we developed
alongside the FairCharge campaign – could form the basis of a
future review of them.
“The unequivocal support for VAT to be charged at the same 5%
rate whether a driver is charging at home or at a public charger
also now piles yet more pressure on the Treasury to correct this
bizarre anomaly. As things stand, the current mismatched VAT
rates are an unnecessary barrier to switching to an electric car
for the estimated third of people who can’t charge an EV at home
and who wholly rely on the public charging network.
“We very much look forward to the Government’s response to this
report and its explanation of what else it is going to do to
ensure as many drivers are able to benefit from running an
electric car as possible.”
