Call for an ‘electrifying’ Budget to boost EV sales

CHANCELLOR Rishi Sunak has been urged to deliver an “electrifying Budget” to boost sales of electric vehicles (EVs).

The AA wants to see policies which remove perceived barriers to EV ownership, such as cost, range and the availability of charge points.

It is calling for VAT to be removed from new electric cars.

A recent poll of 17,500 motorists suggested that scrapping the 20% sales tax would be an “influential” step in persuading 61% of drivers to make the switch from cars with conventional combustion engines.

The AA is calling for several gigafactories to be built in the UK to improve the supply chain of EVs and boost research and development of batteries to increase their range.

It also wants the Government to do further work with local councils and regional electricity companies to ensure more lampposts have EV charging capability.

AA president Edmund King said: “The time has come for the Chancellor to deliver an electrifying Budget.

“Clearly the climate emergency will feature heavily and drivers want to do their bit.

“Making it easier to swap a petrol or diesel car for an electric car needs to be at the forefront of the Budget and scrapping the VAT will do that.

“Likewise, we need to end the concerns surrounding EV ownership, so more charging points particularly for those with no driveways, easier ways to pay and improvements to the EV supply chain will help.

“Investing in EV battery technology is key too as it will create thousands of new green jobs in engineering, manufacturing, recycling and research and development.”

Road conditions are being made worse by the 3.6 million additional new cars being driven on Britain’s roads compared with a decade ago, councils have warned.

The Local Government Association (LGA) said that if the number of extra cars licensed in 2019, compared with 2009, were lined up bumper to bumper, they would cover more than 11,000 miles, which is equivalent to the length of Britain’s coastline.

It claimed this highlights the need for greater investment in the transport network.

Ahead of next week’s Budget, the LGA is calling on the Government to reinvest 2p per litre of existing fuel duty, worth about £1 billion per year, in looking after local roads.

This would help shift a maintenance backlog calculated at costing £9 billion and lasting 10 years.

Recent RAC figures suggested vehicle breakdowns caused by potholes increased by a fifth year-onyear during the last three months of 2019.

The LGA also wants an end to transport funding being divided into multiple cash pots.

It believes this system should be replaced by “stable, devolved infrastructure and public transport budgets”.

David Renard, the LGA’s transport spokesman, said: “The sheer volume of traffic on our roads has completely overtaken the amount that councils are able to spend on local transport.”