Business reporter
The government will make it cheaper for people to buy an electric car, the transport secretary has told the BBC.
But Heidi Alexander would not confirm whether it would give grants to encourage motorists to switch when asked by Laura Kuenssberg on Sunday, following a report in the Telegraph that Labour is poised to unveil £700m in subsidies.
Instead, she pointed to a £25m package that will be allocated to councils to fit “cross-pavement gullies”, to make it easier for people without driveways to charge an electric vehicle (EV), alongside £63m for charging infrastructure.
The Conservatives welcomed the investment but accused the government of “forcing” families into buying “expensive” EVs.
The average price of a new EV in the UK is nearly double the cost of a typical petrol car at £22,000 – though some Chinese brands are beginning to market their electric cars for as little as £18,000.
Alexander told Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg: “We are going to be making some announcements later this week on how we make it more affordable for people to buy an electric vehicle.”
When pushed on whether this would come in the form of taxpayer-funded subsidies like those in the US, as reports suggest, Alexander refused to say, referring twice to an announcement due later this week.
But she said: “I can guarantee to your viewers that we will be making it cheaper for those who do want to make the switch to an electric vehicle.”
The Department for Transport declined to comment further.
Around a fifth of new cars sold during the first half of the year were electric, according to the latest figures from the UK motor trade association the SMMT.
However, sales remain well below the mandated targets manufacturers have been set, ahead of a ban on selling new petrol and diesel cars in 2030.
Alexander told the Telegraph the high cost of electric vehicles was making people wary.
“It was right that the government thinks in the round about what we can do to tackle both of the issues, on charging and on the upfront cost of purchase,” she told the newspaper.
But Richard Fuller MP, shadow chief secretary to the Treasury, accused Labour of “forcing families into more expensive electric vehicles before the country is ready”.
‘I don’t have an electric car’
As well as price, hesitance towards buying EVs can often come from so-called “range anxiety” – the worry about running out of charge without a charging point nearby.
To counter this, the government has said it would invest £63m in expanding the number of charging points across the UK.
Alexander said the money would go towards signposting larger EV charging hubs on major A-roads.
Edmund King, president of the AA, said moves like this were “vital” to create confidence in the transition to EVs.
TV motoring journalist Quentin Wilson said he had been campaigning for improved signage two years ago, criticising the government for “doing this far, far too slowly”.
He told BBC Breakfast: “There is so much more the government should be doing but they’re not, and one of the reasons is that people on the front bench, they don’t drive electric cars. They don’t own them themselves.”
Asked if she had an electric car, the transport secretary said she did not as she lived in a terraced house without a driveway.
“I don’t have an electric car,” she said. “Like millions of people in this country – I bought a new car about six years ago, I’m thinking about the next car that I will purchase and it will definitely be an electric vehicle,” she added.
For people without off-street parking – like those living in blocks of flats or terraced houses – charging an EV overnight can often be challenging, while on-street charging points can be far more expensive than charging from a mains socket.
In April, Alexander announced manufacturers would have more flexibility on annual targets and face lower fines to allow them to manage the impact of trade tariffs from the US.
