Transport secretary Louise Haigh on bringing down EV costs for consumers

Transport Secretary Louise Haigh said the UK Government "wants to make EVs as affordable as possible" and it sees big fleet deals as an advantage in bringing more low priced used EVs into the market for private motorists.

Haigh said ministers are aware of the challenges over the transition to electric vehicles, and the Government will launch a consultation soon on plans to reinstate the 2030 deadline for the end of sales of new diesel and petrol cars.

Haigh said: “I think there are challenges with the EV transition – we’re very aware of that, including the lack of certainty that the previous government introduced by moving back the deadline (to 2035) for transition."

“We’re clear. We’re bringing that forward to 2030 in order to give that clarity to manufacturers, and that should bring down costs for consumers as well. So we’ll be making an announcement about consultation on that soon as well.”

In an interview with PA, she highlighted some of the tax incentives provided to the fleet and company car sector, and said that encouraging companies to transition their fleet to EVs "is one of the quickest ways to get cheaper EVs onto the second-hand market and really bring down prices for consumers".

Carmakers have increased the discounts on their electric cars in the past 12 months, JATO research has found.

Haigh said: “We want to make EVs as affordable as possible, but one of the biggest barriers is people’s perception around charging and charging infrastructure.

“And there is too big an inequity across the country about where those public charging points are, and we’ll be looking to address that in future spending rounds as well.”