UK Government commits to zero emission future

The UK government committed to lead global efforts to cut vehicle emissions during the international climate conference in Paris.

The UK reinstated its commitment to reduce emissions by becoming 1 of 13 members of the Zero Emission Vehicle Alliance to pledge to promote low carbon technology. Other signatures that featured on the commitment were from the likes of Germany, Holland and Norway. By signing this commitment the UK has agreed to ensure that all passenger vehicles sold in the UK will be zero emission vehicles by 2050.

Transport Minister Andrew Jones said:

The UK already has the largest market for ultra-low emission vehicles in the EU, and the fourth largest in the world and today’s pledge reaffirms our commitment to ensuring almost every car and van is a zero emission vehicle by 2050. Electric cars are cheaper and greener to run and we are making them more affordable, spending more than £600 million between 2015 and 2020 to support the uptake and manufacturing of ultra-low emission vehicles here in the UK. By leading international efforts on this issue, we are playing our part in helping achieve greenhouse gas emission reductions of more than 1 billion tonnes per year across the world by 2050.

More than 20,000 motorists made the switch to electric vehicle (EV) or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEV) between January and September 2015 which is an increase of 138.5% over 2014. These encouraging figures provide a clear signal that the future is bright for the electric car market.