Miliband: I don’t have an electric car but want everyone to own one
ED MILIBAND admitted he does not own an electric car as he looks to spearhead a “revolution” to make owning a zero-emission vehicle an “option for all.”
Labour’s Shadow Business Secretary made the admission on ITV’s Good Morning Britain, declaring that lockdown had got in the way of his family’s planned electric vehicle purchase.
Asked whether he had an ecar, the former party leader said: “I haven’t yet. It is a work in progress.
“We were actually on our way to buying one before lockdown. It is going to happen, I promise you. I have bought an electric bike but it [the electric car] is on its way.”
Mr Miliband said he was “pushing to make it accessible” for more families to own an electric vehicle before 2030 when the Government’s proposed ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars is due to come into force.
In a speech in London yesterday, he called for interest-free loans to be offered for new and used electric vehicles to those on low to middle incomes to remove the upfront cost barrier.
Mr Miliband, the Doncaster North MP, also pressed for a quicker rollout of charging points on streets, targeting areas such as Yorkshire, the North West and the West Midlands.
Explaining his campaign, Mr Miliband told the show’s presenters yesterday: “It is the way we’ve got to go for climate reasons. This is the point.
“This change is coming. This change can benefit our country. I want to be part of that change.
“Like other consumers, there are barriers and we’ve got to break down those barriers.”
Asked whether Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer had switched to an electric car, Mr Miliband said: “I don’t know which vehicle he drives. You’ll have to ask him.”
In his speech, which has been welcomed by the Unite union, the former energy secretary also called for part-financing of the creation of three new gigafactories by 2025, providing greater security for the sector and shoring up Britain’s global leadership in the electric-vehicle market.