Johnson gets big companies to switch to Uk-made electric vans

BORIS JOHNSON has persuaded seven of Britain’s biggest companies to spend hundreds of millions of pounds converting their van fleets to Uk-made electric models.

However, many bosses still believe the Government needs a clearer plan to build infrastructure such as electric vehicle charging stations.

BP, BT, Royal Mail and Tesco are among the names committing to buy 70,000 electric vans.

Insurer Direct Line, Severn Trent and Scottishpower have also pledged to convert their fleets.

Bosses say that this will help lay the groundwork for greater investment in electric vehicle charge points.

Philip Jansen, BT chief executive, said: “We want to buy British but to do that we need to be confident that the supply of vehicles, components and charging points to keep our vans on the road will be sufficient.

This needs to be a team effort with the Government removing obstacles and helping take this to the next level.”

Simon Thompson, Royal Mail’s chief executive, added: “With the right policy and infrastructure in place, Government and industry can turbocharge the faster rollout of electric vehicles built in the UK.”

Earlier this month, the Government brokered a deal with the owner of Vauxhall to invest £100m in building electric vans on its flagship site in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire.

Mr Johnson said yesterday: “I wholeheartedly welcome this commitment by leading employers to fully electrify their van fleets by 2030. This announcement will be a major boost to British vehicle production.”

The seven businesses have published a report with a series of recommendations to ensure that Britain meets Mr Johnson’s objective of banning new sales of petrol and diesel cars by 2030 and lorries from 2035.

The report said: “As things stand, however, we look set to fall short. Van manufacturers point to a lack of charging infrastructure.”

The Department for Transport must allocate the £1.3bn of previously announced investment to rapid charging station providers, businesses said.

They also supported calls for a cut in VAT from 20pc to 5pc levied on public charging stations, and a VAT exemption on the sale of second-hand electric vehicles.

Ministers are under growing pressure to act on building more charging points after facing criticism by the Competition and Markets Authority and Commons’ transport committee.

The CMA said “red wall” areas in Yorkshire and the Humber have a quarter of the number of charge points per head compared with London – turning their availability into a “postcode lottery”.

‘As things stand, however, we look set to fall short. Van manufacturers point to a lack of infrastructure’