Electric car claim sparks denial from Government

Jan 14 2010 By Iain Laing, The Journal

THE Government has played down claims it is not doing enough to help introduce electric cars in the UK.

In a visit to the region this week Ivan Hodac, secretary-general of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association, said money spent on support for the North East’s electric car infrastructure was not supported across the rest of the UK.

His outspoken attack on "piecemeal" Government support has upset ministers who have spent millions of pounds on electric vehicle support.

Mr Hodac claimed that the work of One North East in preparing to introduce hundreds of charging points across the region was not matched elsewhere in the UK.

Nissan’s Sunderland plant, which employs more than 3,000 workers, is currently bidding against its factory in Portugal to build the manufacturer’s LEAF electric car – a contract which it hopes could create thousands of North East jobs.

But Mr Hodac said Portuguese efforts to introduce electric car charging points were moving much faster than UK plans.

He said: "I know if I buy an electric car I can go to work and charge the car or go home and charge the car. But what if I want to go to London or say a journey of several hundred miles across the country? In Portugal they are really moving fast on this, they are taking a country-wide approach."

But yesterday a Department for Transport spokeswoman said that as the UK’s first Low Carbon Economic Area focused on ultra-low carbon vehicles, the North East had "a real opportunity to lead the way in the low-carbon revolution".

She added: "We want other regions in the UK to take their lead from the North East, which is addressing all aspects of the electric vehicle jigsaw, to make the electric car a real option."

The Government claims to have found £30m for charging points for electric and plug-in hybrid cars.

"Cities and businesses are joining together to bid for this money which will help fund the installation of charging points on streets, car parks and in commercial, retail and leisure facilities," the Government spokeswoman said.

She added: "Overall, we’re investing more than £400m to encourage the development, manufacture and use of next generation ultra-low carbon vehicles. This support is being targeted to create jobs in a low-carbon automotive sector and to cut carbon from UK road transport."

A Nissan spokesman said: "Nissan is continuing to form innovative partnerships with governments, cities and other organisations that will advance the deployment of electric vehicles (EVs) worldwide.

"In the UK we have already been working hard with Government at both the national and regional level to ensure zero-emission mobility is a practical, real-world option for motorists in the near future.

"Nissan will launch LEAF – the world’s first affordable mass-marketed EV – in late 2010 in the US, Japan and Europe, and the development of a viable supporting infrastructure is already well under way in the UK.

"We are confident that our own commitment to zero-emission mobility is matched by Government and that the network of charging stations, public awareness programmes, incentives etc will be in place ahead of LEAF’s introduction to the market."

Mr Hodac is a representative in Brussels of the 15 European car makers.