Electric blame game

Areport from the House of Lords climate change committee has blamed the press, among others, for an allegedly slow uptake of electric vehicles. Misinformation about price, difficulties charging the car, the battery capacity, and their role in particulate pollution have all combined to present a negative picture, the peers said.

They want the Government to do more to counter this. Even though more than one million EVS are now registered in the UK, growth in the sector has flatlined and needs to be revived by state action, the peers said.

Why should the Government intervene to force the sale of a particular vehicle? Moreover, do the peers really think that newspaper reports about the difficulties some motorists encounter with their EVS should somehow be censored? How else do we interpret their call to build consumer confidence and push back against “mistruths”?

If EVS are worth buying then the market will ensure they are purchased in large numbers. That requires improved battery capacity and far more charging points. If the infrastructure is not available, no amount of cajoling will help matters.

The committee chairman Baroness Parminter, said officials and other witnesses had reported reading disinformation on the subject in national newspapers. “We have seen a concerted effort to scare people... we have seen articles saying that cars are catching fire – but had evidence that the fire risk is absolutely the same as [petrol and diesel] cars,” she said. What is particularly odd is that, in the declaration of interests by the 13 members of the committee, just two, including Lady Parminter, say they own an electric vehicle.