{"id":66718,"date":"2016-01-22T09:19:03","date_gmt":"2016-01-22T09:19:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?guid=5a520e2d8778cc7cb1faa6aba5bc7412"},"modified":"2016-01-22T09:19:03","modified_gmt":"2016-01-22T09:19:03","slug":"speech-we-are-reaching-the-ultra-low-emission-vehicle-tipping-point","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/?p=66718","title":{"rendered":"Speech: We are reaching the ultra low emission vehicle tipping point"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Introduction<\/h2>\n

I am really grateful for the chance to speak today (21 January 2016).<\/p>\n

And thank you to Chargemaster for hosting today\u2019s conference. <\/p>\n

It\u2019s great to hear about your work and ideas for the future.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a real buzz around the electric vehicle market nowadays.<\/p>\n

And I mean that figuratively, as well as literally.<\/p>\n

The shift we are seeing reminds me of the spread of the internet in the 1990s.<\/p>\n

The internet started small, as a niche interest, but then it snowballed, and now it\u2019s hard to imagine being without it.<\/p>\n

I think we are seeing a similar picture emerging for ultra low emission vehicles in Britain today. <\/p>\n

ULEV<\/abbr> sales are not just growing rapidly.<\/p>\n

They are rocketing. <\/p>\n

Plug-in vehicle registrations reached a record high in 2015, as 28,188 new ULEVs arrived on UK roads, more than the past 5 years\u2019 totals rolled into one.<\/p>\n

The UK now has the most comprehensive rapid chargepoint network in Europe, and home-grown companies such as Chargemaster<\/a> are making the UK\u2019s ULEV<\/abbr> industry a private sector success story.<\/p>\n

Ambition<\/h2>\n

That\u2019s a success story the government wants to see continue.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s why in the last Spending Review<\/a> we increased our support for the British ULEV<\/abbr> market to \u00a3600 million over the next 5 years.<\/p>\n

Since 2011, more than 50,000 plug in grant claims have been made, and our new grants will ensure a further 100,000 people will get financial support when purchasing ULEVs.<\/p>\n

And we are continuing the highly valued home charge scheme under which home-owners can receive a grant for most of the cost of installing a home chargepoint.<\/p>\n

And we are working with local authorities to increase numbers of on-street chargers for owners who don\u2019t have off-street parking. <\/p>\n

By 2050, we want virtually every car and van on the road to be zero emission.<\/p>\n

Councils in the capital and across the country have similar objectives, and we will shortly announce the winners of a \u00a340 million Go Ultra Low Cities scheme. <\/p>\n

The successful local authorities have clear plans for their own city-wide ultra-low emission vehicle revolutions, and will receive funding to achieve those plans.<\/p>\n

The rationale for this kind of local funding is clear.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s often in the local area that the benefits of ULEV<\/abbr> vehicles are most plainly felt \u2014 as contributing to cleaner air, healthier lungs and lower noise pollution.<\/p>\n

But this transformation won\u2019t be limited to the areas covered by our Go Ultra Low Cities<\/a> scheme.<\/p>\n

ULEVs are an opportunity \u2014 and an increasing necessity \u2014 for everywhere in the country.<\/p>\n

Anyone who was in London yesterday will have seen the pall of smog over the city.<\/p>\n

Installing the right ULEV<\/abbr> infrastructure in London is challenging.<\/p>\n

After our Plugged in Places<\/a> funding there are more than 1500 chargepoints in London.<\/p>\n

But greater progress is possible, and necessary.<\/p>\n

So I am pleased that Transport for London have high ambitions for their ULEV<\/abbr> delivery plan, which is moving towards implementation.<\/p>\n

Challenge<\/h2>\n

What is so important about the charging network is that growth in ULEVs can only continue if the public\u2019s confidence in their ability to charge is maintained.<\/p>\n

The vehicles on display here offer everything a driver could want.<\/p>\n

They look fantastic, and drive well.<\/p>\n

There are now more than 29 models on sale in the UK \u2014 enough to suit all needs, and the choice is increasing all the time.<\/p>\n

Some cars be fully charged in as little as 20 minutes \u2014 not much more than the time it takes to drop the kids off at school.<\/p>\n

So chargepoint technology is improving and reliability is getting better and better.<\/p>\n

But drivers need to know that the chargepoint network in their area is comprehensive, expanding, and well-maintained; so that they can drive with confidence to the supermarket, the high street, or the local primary school.<\/p>\n

And there\u2019s lots that local authorities can do to improve their chargepoint network.<\/p>\n

Such as requiring new building developments to include chargepoints, providing dedicated parking bays for local ULEV<\/abbr> car clubs or allowing preferential access for ULEVs in low emissions zones.<\/p>\n

And when drivers have invested in a ULEV<\/abbr>, they need the right information so they can set out with confidence; to know where their nearest chargepoint is, and that it\u2019s in good working order.<\/p>\n

Good information doesn\u2019t help just existing drivers, it also helps newcomers take their first plunge into the ULEV<\/abbr> market.<\/p>\n

Through measures such as these, local authorities have a strong hand in encouraging the uptake of ULEV<\/abbr> vehicles, and I\u2019m really keen to see them play that hand well.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h2>\n

The internet only really snowballed when internet users, providers, website retailers and investors came together in sufficient numbers to create a tipping point<\/p>\n

We\u2019re reaching that tipping point with the ULEV<\/abbr> market.<\/p>\n

But the closer we can work together \u2014 across government, manufacturers, chargepoint hosts and network operators.<\/p>\n

The quicker we can transform our neighbourhoods.<\/p>\n

And deliver the cleaner air and quieter streets we need.<\/p>\n

That collaboration is our task in 2016.<\/p>\n

And we are making a great start at today\u2019s conference.<\/p>\n

Thank you.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Roads minister Andrew Jones hails rising ULEV sales and makes the case for better charging infrastructure.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66718"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=66718"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/66718\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=66718"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=66718"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mostafa.openonline.co.uk\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=66718"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}