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Tories attack plan to pay drivers £5,000 for buying an electric car
Nicholas Cecil, Chief Political Correspondent16.04.09
The Tories denounced plans for an electric car revolution as flawed immediately after ministers unveiled them today.
Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon and Business Secretary Lord Mandelson pledged incentives of up to £5,000 to encourage drivers to buy an electric car, but shadow chancellor George Osborne dismissed the proposals and stressed that they needed to be taken with a “pinch of salt”.
He claimed there was a lack of detail about “crucial measures needed to make electric cars a mainstream reality” such as a network of car charging points and a smart grid to manage a surge in demand for electricity.
“The Labour plan announced today is like giving people a grant to buy an internal combustion engine without bothering to set up any petrol stations,” he said.
The Department for Transport insisted £20 million of the £250 million transport package was for charging points and other infrastructure and that a report had found that the grid could cope with supplying electric cars.
Mr Hoon today admitted that electric cars needed to shed their “slightly odd” image to become a purchase of choice.
The Government also accepts that a barrier to electric cars' mass production is that they cost more than petrol-powered vehicles, so is pledging payments of between £2,000 and £5,000 from 2011 to encourage drivers to go electric.
Mr Hoon said: “What we've got to get people used to is the idea that electric cars will become quite normal, quite usual.”
He also signalled support for London Mayor Boris Johnson's plans to introduce electric cars to the capital by installing thousands of charging points.
Mr Hoon said there was a “huge untapped potential to reduce emissions” with less than 0.1 per cent of Britain's 26 million cars being electric.
The cost of electric cars is high, with one, the Tesla Roadster, having a starting price of more than £87,000. But the Department for Transport is discussing with motor industry leaders how best to deliver the financial help for drivers to speed up the mass introduction of electric and plug-in hybrid (part electric, part petrol) cars.
Mr Osborne challenged ministers to adopt the Tory environmental masterplan, which he said would unleash at least £30 billion of private sector investment.
It includes energy entitlements, to be funded by gas and electricity firms, of up to £6,500 for every home in Britain.
David Cameron is also proposing at least three carbon capture and storage projects, bringing forward the roll-out of smart meters for every home and business, and speeding up the introduction of feed-in tariffs for renewable electricity and heat.
Other plans are for a recharging network for electric vehicles, a high speed rail link, an electricity internet, a network of marine energy parks and building a direct current cable network down Britain's coasts enabling offshore renewable schemes to access the electricity grid.
The Tories also say the Government should provide loan guarantees for firms investing in green technologies, and are backing an environmental trading market.
Reader views (48)
These cars are only really any use for short journeys in cities; precisely the places that have decent public transport already. Until battery technology improves they are not a viable subsitute for a petrol car. Therefore all this scheme will do is accelerate the current trend for rich people to buy one of these as a supplement to their petrol car to avoid the congestion charge - what's so green about that?
- David, London
They may suit Noddy and Big Ears, but in the real world, they are currently no substitute for our present vehicles.
- Dave Davies, Basingstoke
In Feb'07, it was reported that..Mandelson “requested a luxury £80,000 Maserati as his official EU car”. Barroso, the President of the Commission, allegedly rejected the request saying EU taxpayers "would not understand" the justification behind an £80,000 car" Ironic to see the current greenwashing cinema in yet another hollow, failed Mandelson "initiative"!
- A Britt, Brussels, Belgium
Well the overseas manufacturers will now put up their prices by £5000 and make bigger profits at the expense of the UK taxpayer. Would you let Hoon and Mandelson run a chip shop?
- Kent, Bath
You would have to wrap up in Winter how far could you travel with
the heater going?
- Harry, Tonbridge uk
I read somewhere recently of a woman who well-meaningly bought a G-Wiz car, which cost more than many decent small cars. After only two years she needed a new battery, which cost £2,000: this was more than the resale price of the car by then.
Electric batteries for cars are a terrible idea:lots of rare and heavy metals from all over the world in a ghastly cocktail. Apparently you need to drive a Prius for more than 10 years to even compete with a Humvee, which is just one big lump of easily-recycled steel, on environmental grounds.
My humble contribution to the debate is to drive ten-year old vehicles of a good original build, and run them into the ground, for the biggest environmental cost of a car is making it and scrapping it. Paying people to scrap old but sound cars is criminal waste, but makes for a headline for vainglorous politicians.
- Mdj E10, london uk
I think the owner of this car should be given £5000 immediately for being such a responsible member of society. Give the boy the cash NOW!
- Marion, Walsall
That isn't a car it's a buzzing milk carton!! Ghastly. Bring back proper motoring.
- anon, London, W1
They have to be cars with a "mass market appeal" as yet undefined. The hyped mini can only carry two people. The first vehicle possibly to be eligible is the Vauxhall Amperia at a price over over £20,000 compared to its Astra equivalent at £12,000 and not available until 2012. This seems like another Lord Peter of Smoke and Mirrors promises.
- Dave, London England
It will take more than £5k to get me to drive in a Gwhiz or whatever they are called. Talk about death trap on wheels!
- Mike, London England
We can hardly forget the Sir Alan Sugar attempts with his electric CS models. The price was a bit more appealing. May as well go for an electric bike if one is able to go electric, much cheaper.
The street equipment for charging is a hazard, surprised the H&S Executive have said nothing. Am sure the disabled organisations will have something to say eventually.
- Tony Islander, Herts
Thank you for giving me my first laugh of the day William Ear! Very eloquently put!
- Isabel, Woking
I think it is a good idea to have Electric Cars but only if they are built here?
- Stan White, leeds
Wow, what a snip of a car at only £87,000! They'll have to make it a tad bigger though - at that price I want to live in it!
- Kiren, Essex. GB
Labour seems to think money grows on trees,which is not surprising seeing their expense allowances.Im of to the scrapyard to get me a 50 quit car,trade in for an electric one with my 5 000 donation from the taxpayer then sell it on ebay at 2500 less than the selling price.
- David, london
These re-charging points proposed will be an easy and very tempting target for vandals. The future of motor transport belongs with Hydrogen fuel cells. Electric cars with batteries are one thing, but what about heavy lorries? No, this is just a spoiler to put the next Tory government on the spot and lock them into a policy that cannot be fulfilled in the way proposed. More typical smoke and mirrors from this tawdry Labour government in its death throws. And anyway; will any future Chancellor pile taxes onto electric traction to make up the shortfall in tax revenue from the hoped-for decline in petrol and Diesel consumption?
- Gordo, Birmingham, UK
I can just see the drunks going down the road each night unpluging these cars.Then theres the health and safety mob this has got to be a danger to those walking the dog is it April fools day?
- Dave Smith, Croydon
Another pointless idea. Even if electric cars were the future wouldn't anyone intent on encouraging people to buy them design something attractive. What is that in the photo? Seriously it looks like a dodgy 70's kit car repaired with panels that don't match. It looks like the first attempts of a child to render perspective. The wheel hubs are missing their caps and the wing mirrors are actually 'flag' design, just how could somebody be so out of touch and talentless as to 'design' THAT!!!!!!!!!
- William Ear, Waltham Cross
Of course the Conservatives have attacked the plan. They attack anything they haven't thought of first. Perhaps they didn't know about Boris Johnson's plan for charging points across London, or that GM are investing billions of dollars in electric cars. The Luddite Tories don't seem to realise where the future is.
- Val Daniels, Mijas Costa, Spain
What another pointless soundbite “policy” from Mandelson. Strange how these “good news” stories tend to come out on the same day as horrendous-for-Labour news stories such as the Damian Green affair.
Add to this the fact that we are talking about Mandelson here, so this policy is 100% not going to be what it seems.
Apparently I can switch my electricity to a scheme which uses only renewable energy and it will cost me less than £200/year to do so – why doesn’t the Government give me that £200 or take VAT off renewable electricity instead of coming up with stupid plans like this one.
- St, London
Surely these electic cars can't be any worse than public transport in London, can it?
- Fraser, Telford Park
As yet no one has really solved the power supply situation for battery cars. The there is the safety aspect they have just added ‘front’ breaks to the G-wiz to make it safer. At the moment they skirt around the law on safety by not being classed as cars.
The strange thing is that everyone knows the real answer is Hydrogen power for cars, yet no equivalent grant for these?
- Ian, Reading, England
Whats the point, some people are struggling to pay for mortgage, food and energy bills.
Non starter. Get a bike.
- C Cusano, Bedford
£5000 to buy a car when parents are struggling to feed their children, school funding is being cut, and the NHS is in tatters? I think that's all that needs to be said.
- Verity Sinclair Willis, Leeds
I wonder how much money the rich oil states will fork out to stop the electric car,after all,it is against their interests.
- David Nigel Braham, Milan Italy
Am up for switching to an electric car as soon as someone comes up with one that a 6'3" person like me can drive comfortably
- Tj, London
Robert – Yes I like the concept of the Air car too. Yet as you are rightfully concerned as how we Fuel up, you can see that it allegedly takes about two to three minutes, also some of these cars can come with their own on board compressors so they say.
Here are two more links as to how this works:
Tech Data info
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVIwropRMME
and here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ztFDqcu8oJ4
- Carl Barron, Christchurch, Dorset
This is just adicts to cars still trying to get another fix!
The fact is although electric cars can cover cities they still waste space and it is better to use public transport instead. While outside cities they dont have the reliability of range - people may carry a petrol can but try carrying a battery thats died up a country lane!
As for what the Conservatives say well given the mess Boris has made with wanting to scrap c-charge, failure to extend LEZ and scrapping DLR and Tram schemes well just goes to show how they will say anything to get elected and do nothing when they get in!!
While the high speed line the Conservatives demand the government start building is a project they said was post 2020 (ie NEVER EVER in realspeak.)
What we need is to return to Trams and Trolley-buses with hybrid technology that allows these buses to opporate off wires in sensitive areas of cities.
We also need to stop building Hospitals, Shops etc which can only be reached by a car in out of town locations.
While Londons LEZ needs to cover the whole country with bands for ALL Vehicles even electric given that pollution still occurs when electricity is generated.
We need to spread the free bus concept to encourage use of public transport.
Finally a program to electrify our railways needs to start the main benefit being that the diesel trains use will become available for other use given that the world oil shortage will return again.
- Melvyn Windebank, Canvey Island, Essex
I like the AirCar but the garages supplying the compressed air will have to have a windfarm generator otherwise you are back to the problem of the source of the electricity.
- Robert Thornton, Malaga Spain
ANOTHER GIMMICK. WHAT ELECTRIC CARS. NEXT WEEK IT WILL BE £2000 TO SCARP A CAR OVER ELEVEN YEARS OLD. BUT WE MAKE NO SMALL CARS SO ITS AN IMPORT SUBSIDY. IF YOU HAVE A POLLUTING NINE YEAR OLD CAR, WORTH WELL UNDER £2000
DOES ONE KEEP DRIVING IT UNTIL ITS TURN FOR A SUBSIDY COMES ROUND. IF THEY WANT TO PROMOTE THE SALE OF ECONOMICAL CARS AND HELP THE INDUSTRY WHY NOT SCRAP THE VAST TAXES ON NEW CARS, WHICH THE INDUSTRY IS TRYING TO MAKE MORE EFFICIENT
AH, BUT THAT SOMETHING PRACTICAL NOT A USELESS GIMMICK. AS BLAIR ONCE SAID ABOUT GOD, WE DON'T DO PRACTICAL
- Alan Green, Woodford Green
Carl - batteries used in electric vehicles are far too valuable ever to be thrown away as landfill. They are carefully recycled at the end of the car's life. NiMH cells (as used in Toyota's Prius) have an extremely long proven life (decades). It's quite possible that they can be recycled simply by testing that they are still up to specification and re-installing them in a new car. Lithium cells are too new for anyone to have a good idea of their life expectancy. In either case, after they expire they are reprocessed to extract the valuable elements for manufacturing new batteries.
Weight is irrelevant out of context. What matters is how much CO2 is emitted when any particular car moves one mile under particular controlled conditions. They could do the same for electric cars, provided that the CO2 per electricity unit out of the electricity grid could be agreed. As we get more non-fossil-fuel electricity, that figure would fall, even as the car stayed the same. In general, electric beats diesel on these terms, but doesn't have enough range yet, or the infrastructrure for refuelling quickly.
The cost of the electricity to run an electric car is tiny compared to petrol or diesel, because it's not taxed like petrol and diesel are! Don't expect that to last after electric cars become mainstream. You'll be taxed. Though how they'll stop you "filling" overnight in your own garage is an interesting question. Unlike agri-diesel, you can't dye electricity.
- Nigel, London
Batteries,watch out! Lthium is not in plentiful supply. All right for a few of us then...no such problem for the "AirCar" of MDI, France.
- Stephen Lawrence, Cambridge, England
i can just imaging how useful a 'totally electric' car would be! They would all be made in the far east, then shipped over to the UK in huge ferries, with associated CO2 and costs. There would be no benefit to the UK, as we do not manufacture anything anymore - just a huge deficit in our balance of payments. Once here - no doubt the Govt would hike electricity prices and taxes, and then the CEGB would be unable to generate enough electricity to recharge them! Add to that the feeble range, low speed, non-existent safety and pathetic carrying capacity - and you have another New Liebour ill though out, totally impracticable half baked spin!
- Gary, amersham
Darius, I'm with you. The biggest pollution issue isn't climate change; that's secondary. The biggest pollution issue is the growth in the number of humans on this satellite. A limited sphere with 25,000,000 square miles; it will never have more. And humans will never 'live' on Mars or somewhere exotic off the satellite; that's never made any sense.
Of course, people don't want to talk of other humans in terms of pollution. It's taboo. Unacceptable. But a wide open discussion had better start soon -- since the world's population is still expanding exponentially.
- Phil Jones, London UK
Where does all the electricity come from to charge up these battery-filled roller skates? It does not grow on trees and requires coal or nuclear power to generate it.
And what about those of us who have to carry more than ourselves and a bag of shopping, preferably in safety?
This initiative is about 5 or 10 years too early.
- Nobby Clark, Perth, Scotland
What of the practicalities: Time taken to charge and finding empty bays and the charges you will have to pay whilst charging as the charging process won't be free.
- Robert Thornton, Malaga Spain
Why should anyone wish to buy a Battery Driven Car when you can already purchase a car from France that runs on ‘FRESH AIR’? No it’s no windup just see the BBC Video for some facts.
Batteries are not environmentally Friendly also they are heavy and cost a lot to replace.
Here’s the link:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ov4t1P9bdGw
- Carl Barron, Christchurch, Dorset
Even if electric cars were the norm this country (unlike most of Northern Europe) has absolutely no recycling facilities for batteries which would mean that every 2 years you'd need to have another one flown in from South America via China where they're built, nice green ethics there then.
- Bob, Cheam
Hoon the Goon strikes again.
For the last 3 winters we have been warned that we may face powercuts due to restrictions in electrical generation capacity. This initiative adds to the prospective electrical load now, whilst power stations take tens of years to plan and put on stream.
More joined up thinking from the NuLabour morons.
- Dave Davies, Basingstoke
I wonder what is "low carbon" about these contraptions.
The do not emit anything (as they have no combustion engine), but the electricty to drive them must be generated somewhere else.
A bit like robbing Peter to pay Paul.
Furthermore, the "vehicles" are a treat to their drivers, as well as to other traffic users, particularly to pedestrians.
If involved in a crash with a proper car, the G-Whizz driver/passenger stands little chance.
They are not "cars", but 4-wheeled bycycles with a fibre body and a tiny electro-engine.
They should be banned altogether and any "cash incentive" should be ploughed into public transport.
- Weddigen, London
I'm told that no cars currently available are covered and it will be electric only. That's great if you never want to travel more than 50 miles in any one day, especially of you need to carry a load bigger than a wallet. The Tesla is supposed to do over 100 miles but when Top Gear drove it quickly (it is a sports car after all), it died after less than 30 if I remember rightly.
We also have to ask 3 questions. First, how long do the batteries last? I've heard 2 years for a G-Wiz, and battery technology is currently far from clean. Second, how is all the extra electricity going to be generated? Oil or coal? Finally, and more importantly for the Government, how are they going to replace all the lost tax on fuels? Expect your 'cheap' electricity to go through the roof.
- Paul, London
Gary, from what I heard the Toyota and Honda are not included. When I subsequently heard that cars like the G-Wiz were also not included as they did not meet current safety standards I decided it was yet another headline grabber that had not been fully thought through!
- Michael, London
A con.
The energy efficiency of rechargeable batteries is low.
The standard consumer charger skt can only supply 13 amps, 3kW, about 4HP, just on the recharge requirement alone your looking at massive power surges at irregular times - at night - goodbye cheap rate electricity if everyone wants to use it.
The energy stored in petrol is vast by comparison.
A better approach would be (apart from walking or cycling)
encourage development of lean burn diesel engines, scrap catalysers, they waste 10 - 12% engine power, hike parking charges for gas guzzlers and 4x4`s, charge road tax according to the FOOTPRINT of the car as well as BHP and emissions, stagger shop opening times and school hours away from other rush hour traffic, and finally, have the courage to debate population control using tax DISINSENTIVES as a deterrent for multiple breeders - then we would need far fewer power stations in the first place.
The greenest product on the planet is made of rubber – it stops two polluters becoming more polluters.
- Darius Midwinter, London UK
If our Major really wants to make an impact he should focus on making the London buses electric and make grants available for electric black cabs and commercial vehicles. This will have a much bigger impact on the environment than trying to convince people to buy a G-Wiz!
- Peter Van Veen, Wandsworth
Electric cars will actually raise CO2 emissions unless electricity is genertaed from renewables. At the moment the vast majority of electricty is generated from oil and coal. More electric cars now without a revolution in electricty production will increase global warming. This is an ill thought out hairbrained idea. If everyone switched to electric cars tomorrow the CO2 output for the UK would quadrduple.
- James, Kendal,Cumbria
If they're all pink/orange I certainly won't be buying one!
- Marianne, SW France
Statistics as ever tell only part of the story. These ranges and top speeds are mutually exclusive. You can either crawl at 5mph and get the range or hoon about at speed and get nothing like those ranges.
Add in your air con/ heated seats/power windows and de-misters and the juice will run out VERY fast!
Plus the electricity used causes pollution so it's not a free ride for the environment - not counting the envirocost of building these vehicles and importing into the UK. Plus we already have a shortage of generating capacity in the UK electric vehicles will make a disastorous situation much worse!
It's technological blind alley and as usual UK plc is hurtling down it at full speed with our eyes closed.
May be OK in the city for people who lets face it don't actually NEED their own transport but as much use as a chocolate teapot in the rest of the country. This is madness.
Try transporting your wife and two kids plus dog in a G-Whizz say to the seaside 70 miles away. Not much use then is it.
- Ethan, UK
Can anybody confirm if the Hybrid vehicles such as the Toyota Prius & the Honda Insight are going to be legible for the cash incentive?
- Gary Hedge, London Colney
