Government details electric vehicles bill

The government has outlined details of its Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill in the House of Commons, legislation aimed at boosting the uptake of electric vehicles across the UK.

Under the proposed laws outlined by Transport Minister John Hayes in the House of Commons yesterday (18 October), operators of motorway service stations and large petrol retailers would be required to install chargepoints for electric cars at their premises.

Increased uptake of electric cars will benefit air quality, Roads Minister Jesse Norman has said

According to the government the new legislation will mean that drivers of electric vehicles will be able to easily locate and charge at any chargepoint, using information from sat navs or mobile apps, regardless of the vehicle make or model. All chargepoints will have to be ‘smart’, meaning they can interact with the grid in order to manage demand for electricity across the country, DfT has said.

Announcing the legislation yesterday, Transport Minister John Hayes said: “We want the UK to be the best place in the world to do business and a leading hub for modern transport technology, which is why we are introducing the Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill in Parliament and investing more than £1.2 billion in the industry.

“This bill will aid the construction of greater infrastructure to support the growing demand for automated and electric vehicles as we embrace this technology and move into the future.”

Air quality

Roads minister Jesse Norman will also announce further funding for local authorities at the Smarter Travel Conference in Milton Keynes today, for the installation of chargepoints in residential areas.

Commenting yesterday, Mr Norman said that electric vehicles ‘will help improve air quality’.

He said: “Automated and electric vehicles will help improve air quality, cut congestion, boost safety and create thousands of skilled jobs in the UK.

“We have already supported the purchase of 115,000 ultra-low emission cars and there are already more than 11,500 publicly available chargepoints, but the demand continues to grow as more people purchase electric vehicles to cut fuel costs and boost the environment.”