UK Government EV and Environmental Policy

[dpeilow]

Electric vehicle grants scheme backfires as taxpayers subsidise £87,000 sports cars | Environment | guardian.co.uk

 

[malcolm]

Electric vehicle grants scheme backfires as taxpayers subsidise £87,000 sports cars | Environment | guardian.co.uk

Existing electric cars, such as the G-Wiz – the most popular consumer electric car on UK streets – and the MEGA e-City will not be eligible because they do not go fast enough.

Are we finally seeing the end of the punishment electric vehicle?

 

[dpeilow]

I think it was a good bit of negotiation/lobbying on the part of the established industry to stave off the subsidy, to be honest.

Funnily enough I saw the orange Mega City (I think there is only one) in London tonight. It actually looks the part. I'd expect most people would think it was a 'normal' car if lined up with a Smart or a Corsa.

 

[dpeilow]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/article7041902.ece

 

[dpeilow]

Government offers grants to buy £80,000 Tesla electric sports car

 

[dpeilow]

It was budget day today in the UK. Some announcements on tax and support for low carbon vehicles are included in the document "Securing Low Carbon Growth".

Page 10 and 12 of the PDF have the interesting bits.


Some further more tenuous mentions of EVs are included in the "Strategy for National Infrastructure"

 

[AndrewBissell]

http://www.whatgreencar.com/news-item.php?Budget-2010-Motoring-summary

 

[dpeilow]

New transport secretary confirms fuel price stabiliser and end to fixed camera funding

Hammond has also confirmed his intention to introduce the fuel price stabiliser pledged before the election, in which fuel duty paid to the treasury will rise and fall to counter fluctuations in the oil price, although no further detail has been released on the scope of the scheme.

According to a report in today's Telegraph, Hammond has also rushed to rule out motorway tolls and other road pricing schemes (except perhaps on any privately-funded new roads).

"We will end the war on motorists. Motoring has got to get greener, but the car is not going to go away," he says.

I wonder what level this will be set at?


BBC News - Coalition sets out plans on runways and nuclear

In their first press conference Mr Cameron and Mr Clegg both pledged a low-carbon economy, but there will be doubts about whether low-carbon energy targets will be met and whether Conservatives will be prepared at this time to continue to underpin low-carbon jobs.

Before the election, they indicated a determination to cut funds to the North-East, for instance, a major low-carbon hub. This may be a source of future tension.

We'll soon see how many of the other headlines are just hot air.

 

[dpeilow]

Report: UK may cancel electric vehicle tax break to save money

Can't say I'm surprised.

There are already cuts in other areas of support for low carbon technologies. Plenty of weasel words floating around just now.

 

[EVNow]

Report: UK may cancel electric vehicle tax break to save money

Can't say I'm surprised.

There are already cuts in other areas of support for low carbon technologies. Plenty of weasel words floating around just now.

What would they do if Nissan threatens to back out of building Leaf in Sunderland ?

 

[ChargeIt!]

What would they do if Nissan theatens to backs out of building Leaf in Sunderland ?

Great idea! Tell Nissan !

 

[dpeilow]

Given that the original announcement was a small blip on UK news radar, I'm sure it would go fairly unnoticed. If it was picked up, it would be spun as "the price necessary to balance the deficit". There are bigger projects at stake.

 

[EVNow]

http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/AllCars/250404/

Prime minister David Cameron has confirmed Nissan's car plant in Sunderland will still get a £20 million grant promised by the Labour government.

There had been fears the money, which had been promised as part of an effort to secure a contract for the Nissan Leaf to be built in Sunderland, could be pulled as part of a review into public spending.

"That money will be going ahead, that investment will be going in," Conservative leader Cameron told parliament.

 

[dpeilow]

Spotted this: Government must act faster on low carbon transport | New Civil Engineer

(You can get articles on this site by linking from Google)

Government must act faster on low carbon transport
11 June, 2010 | By Jo Stimpson

The government is “burying its head in the sand” over the need to develop sustainable transport networks before oil reserves run out, former government chief scientific adviser Sir David King said this week.

On the same day that oil giant BP reported global oil reserves will only last for 45.7 years at the current rate of production, King said transport networks remain too vulnerable to dwindling oil reserves.

King said the Treasury believes that oil will be “squeezed out of the Earth forever,” and claimed that BP’s figures overestimate oil supplies.

“Conventional oil reserves are actually 30% lower than stated by those with a vested interest in it,” he said, and added that oil production rates will be further challenged by the growth of India and China.

King called on the government and the private sector to act now to produce good regulation and put funds into developing new technologies for the future. “I can’t overemphasise the importance of persuading governments to focus on what is going to be a very significant issue as we move into the next decade,” he said, speaking in his role as University of Oxford Smith School of Enterprise and the Environment (SSEE) director.

SSEE research fellow Oliver Inderwildi said action taken now will yield benefits in a few years’ time. He said the government should concentrate on established technologies to introduce low carbon transport in the present, and support the development of new technologies to be used in the future.

King emphasised that research is still necessary to determine the best forms of low carbon transport. “We have to be careful about running ahead of ourselves,” he said. “It’s not simply dealt with and there is no single solution.”

 

[dpeilow]

This one almost flew under the radar, but this week the UK government confirmed that the £5000 tax credit will still be available from next year. However, instead of being available to 46000 people, it will only be available to the first 8600.

http://www.fuelcards.co.uk/news/live_news.php?year=2010&month=07&id=1691

http://www.thegreencarwebsite.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=812.msg3493#msg3493

 

[dpeilow]

So we have a reduction in the EV subsidy, a reduction in support for Wind Turbine manufacturing and now this:

Coal-fired power stations win reprieve

Government's decision to put pollution standards 'on hold' raises possibility of dirtiest coal plants going ahead

Why am I not surprised that the Tory party logo seems to have had a colour change recently...?

 

[dpeilow]

Energy firms to get new low-carbon incentives

 

[dpeilow]

David Cameron revives idea of fuel stabiliser

Umm, so we have a fuel price escalator that is designed to gradually increase tax for environmental reasons, but now we are going to introduce a mechanism to keep the price constant?

I don't get it...

 

[AndrewBissell]

Maybe they plan a stabilised escalator!

In truth, predictably rising prices (say 5% per year) would be not a bad thing, compared to current boom/bust pricing of petrol and diesel.

 

[TEG]

Electric car scheme has only 534 takers | Environment | The Guardian