Only 700 public electric car charging points built with Government cash in a decade despite Boris Johnson’s green push

JUST 700 public electric car charging points have been built with Government cash in a decade despite the PM’s huge green push, shock research shows.

The damning analysis from the spending watchdog also showed that electric cars are still a staggering £13,000 more expensive than a normal, petrol set of wheels – putting struggling Brits off making the switch.

The NAO warned the £1billion ministers have splurged on electric transport in the past 10 years is not good value for money and urged Rishi Sunak to get real about going green in next week’s Budget.

Britain is lagging way behind if it wants to meet its tough green targets for almost all cars to emit zero carbon by 2050, the report warned.

Ministers want to stop the sale of new cars that are powered solely by petrol or diesel by 2030 – forcing Brits to make the swap.

But just eight per cent of new cars sold today are ultra-low emission, it said.
And since 2011, total carbon emissions from passenger cars have reduced by around 1 per cent, less than predicted by the Department for Transport.

By March last year, Government funding had contributed to 142,604 new charge-points – but most are on private driveways and can’t help people on the road who need to top up.

8,000 were at-work charging points, and just 690 were on-street for people to use, and tend to be more expensive.

Private firms have boosted the numbers up to 19,000 by the end of last year.

Ministers have recently set new targets for there to be at least six ultra-rapid charge-points at each service area across England’s main road network by 2023 – with 2,500 across the network by 2030.

There are currently just 36 available per 100 miles of road at the moment.
Gareth Davies, the head of the NAO, said last night: “The number of ultra-low emission cars on UK roads has increased, but meeting the government’s ambitious targets to phase out new petrol and diesel cars in less than a decade still requires a major transition for consumers, car makers and those responsible for charging infrastructure.

“Government now has the opportunity to reflect on what has gone well and better target its interventions and spending to secure this fundamental change and deliver the carbon reduction required.”

‘OPPORTUNITY TO REFLECT’

Last week MPs said the Chancellor must use next week’s Budget to give away tax breaks to Brits who switch over.

It comes as MPs have been told ministers could force Apple and Google to collect and recycle old laptops and mobile phones to stop millions of tonnes of electronic waste going straight into landfill.

Ministers are also looking at rolling out kerbside collection for e-waste around the country to collect small electrical items, rather than leaving them in rubbish bins where they could eak hazardous and toxic chemicals into the soil.

A Department for Transport spokesperson said last night: “This Government is going further and faster to decarbonise transport by phasing out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans by 2030, putting us at the forefront of the electric vehicle revolution.

“Ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEVs) now represent nearly 11 per cent of the new car market.

“Alongside the billions we are investing to support industry and consumers to make the switch to cleaner vehicles, we are proud to be a global leader in the development and manufacture of ULEVs.

“We will set out a plan later this year on how we will deliver these new ambitious phase out dates, helping us to meet our climate change obligations, improve air quality and support economic growth.”