Electric cars are the future – when will the government start taking them seriously?

The government likes to talk up its ambition for electric cars – yet actions speak louder than words

The prime minister has received a fair bit of ridicule for telling his (sacked) climate adviser Clare O’Neil that he “doesn’t really get it” – “it” being climate change. It sounds rather as though Boris Johnson was just doing his usual self-deprecatory charm routine – I’m sure he gets the basics of climate change, whether he believes in it or not.

As the saying goes, judge them not by their words, but by their deeds – or when it comes to the climate emergency, by their long-term policy targets. Johnson’s latest move is to bring forward the ban on sales of new petrol, diesel and – clarity at last – hybrid cars. These will now disappear from UK new car showrooms in 2035, rather than 20240. Hybrids had been in limbo for a while, as well they might be, using internal combustion engines and fossil fuels, but also self-generated electricity to propel themselves. The government has at last recognised that they are not really electric cars because they also have a petrol or diesel engine on board – only battery-only powered ones are properly green (there is some debate about the hydrogen fuel cell, but I’ll leave that esoteric question aside for now).

So we have clarity and ambition for the changeover to electric cars. Or rather, for a future acceleration of the switch to battery-electric cars, as the economics and practicalities of the electric car will swiftly accelerate its adoption from here on in. Pure electric cars (ie, not hybrids) accounted for only 1.6 per cent of new cars sales in 2019 – but that figure will rise rapidly.

Why? First, because the cars are better than ever. Relatively affordable vehicles – costing say £20,000 to £30,000 – will deliver a range of 200 to 300 miles on a single full charge, quelling the “range anxiety” that remains the single biggest single deterrent to using an electric car.

Second, the cars are becoming more mainstream. In the past they have been toys for either the super-rich (Tesla), the quite rich (Jaguar iPace, Mercedes-Benz EQC) or the eccentric (Nissan Leaf, Vauxhall Ampera). This year will see the arrival of electric editions of cars we are all very familiar with – the Mini, Vauxhall Corsa, Peugeot 208, a Volvo XC40 – as well as electric city cars form Smart, Skoda and Seat, among others. Models such as the Hyundai Kona Electric and Kia e-Niro are already showcasing astonishing technical achievements in battery efficiency. The Chinese-made MG ZS mini SUV – all-electric – can be acquired for about £22,000; quite the value package, and perfectly practical. Many manufacturers, such as Ford, have announced plans to “electrify” their ranges – though sometimes this amounts to little more than adding a very modest “mild hybrid” model to a range.

Still, the trend is obvious. The economics of electric cars are falling into place for consumers. Depending on your annual mileage, the higher purchase price of a new electric car can be made back over your ownership or leasing of the vehicle. At the recent launch of the electric Peugeot 208, Peugeot’s UK head of PR Kerry Livesey said that her company’s aim was to make the overall cost of a 208 the same, whether it is electric or not.

If the government, as has been reported, is to abolish the subsidy of up to £3,500 to purchase a new electric car, that will temporarily slow down the pace of adoption – but it will not alter the trend.

Third, an electric vehicle is a more practical proposition even now that is often assumed. For while it is depressingly true that some of the public infrastructure of charging points for electric cars be sparse and unreliable, most electric car drivers charge theirs at home, via a fast charger box fitted in their garage or, where there is off-street parking, at the side of their house. According to the English Housing Survey (2010), some 40 per cent of dwellings had use of a garage, 26 per cent had other off-street parking, 32 per cent relied on-street parking, and 2 per cent of homes had no parking provision whatsoever. There are significant variations: 73 per cent of local authority dwellings relied on on-street parking, compared with 20 per cent of owner-occupied homes. Similarly, 54 per cent of owner-occupied dwellings had a garage compared with just 5-6 per cent of social sector dwellings. Rural dwellers are better off than urbanites too – much more scope for off-street and private parking and charging, including for more than one vehicle.

Which leads us to one of the interesting possibilities for the future of private mobility. Because if the public infrastructure is not rapidly improved and extended, we could end up with a much more divided motoring society than the one we have now.

If electric cars are the better, greener, more economic choice for the future, should we be content with a situation where only about two-thirds of the population is even theoretically able to get the necessary charging point put in, and one-third of Britons are not (ie, those who live in flats and terraced houses who cannot trail long leads out of windows or across pavements).

The obvious solution to all that, and to encourage electric car use more widely, is to install many more urban charging points, for example by converting lamp posts to dual usage, or installing row upon row of them in supermarket car parks.

This is where we encounter market failure. It would cost perhaps hundreds of millions, if not billions, to implement. The car manufacturers won’t pay for them; neither will the oil companies or electricity companies; and it is difficult for private citizens to club together to do so. The government must intervene – but there is little sign yet of its eagerness to do so. Would it make more economic sense than HS2? An open question.

As I say, we should judge our rulers by their actions, as well as their words. They have yet to live up to their laudable ambitions with the kind of investment that is so clearly required.