Earlier today the Secretary of State for Transport, the Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP, publishedRoad to Zero, the Government’s zero emission road transport strategy.
The transition to zero emission road transport is happening across the globe, and will mean fundamental changes to the global automotive market, worth over £1.5 trillion a year, bringing news jobs and growth to the UK.
The strategy emphasises that the benefits of zero emission transport are not just economic, but will tackle poor air quality in the UK’s towns and cities, and that the Government plans to end the sale of new conventional and diesel cars and vans by 2040.
Furthermore, Mr Grayling announced the Government’s intention of ensuring all new homes, where appropriate, should have a chargepoint available, and all new street-lighting columns to include charging points, where appropriately located, in residential areas with current on-street parking provision.
The Government’s strategy contains a package of measures covering three key issues – the supply of vehicles to the market; consumer demand; and a fit-for-purpose infrastructure network. Currently, there are more than 150,000 ultra-low emission vehicles in the UK, and around 14,000 public chargepoints.
In a Written Statement to Parliament, Mr Grayling writes that “By putting the UK at the forefront of the twenty-first century transport revolution, we can ensure our automotive sector — one of our greatest success stories — continues to thrive and create good jobs across the country. We can set a global standard for managing technological change to maximise economic and environmental benefits. We will work with industry to achieve this ambition, and share the benefits this opportunity presents. Helping us achieve our goals of cleaner air, a better environment, zero emission vehicles, a strong clean economy.”
The CECA Roads Forum will be working with Government to deliver this ambitious agenda. If you are a CECA member and would like to discuss this further, or to join the CECA Roads Forum, contact CECA Director of External Affairs Marie-Claude Hemming.