Grant Shapps accused of ‘recycling’ year-old green number plate plan for electric cars
Transport secretary Grant Schapps has come under heavy criticism for “recycling” a year-old announcement to introduce green number plates for electric cars.
His department this morning asked the industry for feedback on whether to give bright green number plates to zero-emission cars, in a bid to encourage people to buy electric vehicles. However, the plan was announced more than a year ago, in September 2018, by Shapps’ predecessor, Chris Grayling, who called the idea “a green badge of honour” for electric car drivers.
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This morning, Shapps said green number plates were “a really positive and exciting way to help everyone recognise the increasing number of electric vehicles on our roads”.
“By increasing awareness of these vehicles and the benefits they bring to their drivers and our environment, we will turbo-charge the zero emission revolution.”
However, a spokesperson for the Environmental Transport Association said: “The resurrection of this idea is recycling of the worst kind; green coloured number plates for electric cars was a weak idea last year and it’s no better now.
“There might be merit in launching an emissions-based badge scheme for cars if, alongside a green category for cleaner vehicles, there was a red category for gas guzzlers but the idea smacks of a cheap PR stunt.
“The government knows what measures are required to tackle the air pollution crisis in Britain that kills 40,000 of us every year, but it doesn’t appear to have the political will to implement them.”
This is not the first time Shapps has been accused of recycling Grayling’s material. Last month, he was accused of lifting sections of a speech to the House of Commons on the collapse of Thomas Cook, which exactly matched exerpts from Grayling’s counterpart statement given when Monarch Airlines went bust in 2017.
Officials said this morning was the launch of the consultation, while the announcement made last year was stating the department’s intention to consult. However, this still means the idea has been gathering dust for 13 months before even going out for consultation, at a time when government claims it is racing to hit net zero emissions by 2050.
The move is intended to help drivers to benefit more easily from local incentive schemes such as free parking for electric cars. Ministers also hope it will encourage more people to buy the vehicles, as the government battles to hit emissions targets.
A similar scheme was trialled in Ontario with drivers of electric vehicles given free access to toll lanes and high occupancy vehicle lanes. That coincided with an increase in the number of electric cars bought there. However, it is unclear how much effect the scheme itself had in the face of rapid growth in global demand for electric vehicles.
But the plan drew support from TV environment advocate Ben Fogle, who is an ambassador for joint government and industry campaign group Go Ultra Low. He said: “As someone going through the process of getting an electric car at the moment, the potential to benefit from extra incentives only adds to the appeal.
“Drivers of electric vehicles could enjoy even smoother journeys, as it becomes easier for local authorities to incentivise electric vehicle ownership, through measures such as allowing them in bus lanes and access to free parking.”
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Elisabeth Costa, senior director at the government’s behavioural insights team, said: “The number of clean vehicles on our roads is increasing but we don’t notice as it’s difficult to tell clean vehicles apart from more polluting ones.
“Green number plates make these vehicles, and our decision to drive in a more environmentally-friendly way, more visible on roads. We think making the changing social norm noticeable will help encourage more of us to swap our cars for cleaner options.”