UK unveils extensive new plan to go all-electric by 2040

Last year, the United Kingdom announced its intention for its transportation market to be all-electric by 2040.

Today, the government unveiled an extensive 46-point plan to help the transition.

Chris Grayling, MP Secretary of State for Transport, unveiled the plan titled ‘The Road to Zero’, a reference to “zero emission”, today.

It involves a wide-ranging series of initiatives from expanding the current plug-in car grant to incentivizing the installation of charge points.

Grayling commented on the plan:

“This level of ambition puts the UK at the forefront of the global transition to cleaner road transport. Petrol and diesel vehicles have dominated the market for over a century and still account for more than 99% of global sales. But change has arrived: sales of ultra low emission vehicles are increasing rapidly and countries, regions and cities across the world have announced long-term plans for cleaner road transport. By some estimates, ultra low emission vehicles will make up over half of global car sales by 2040. The transition will mean fundamental changes to the global automotive market, worth over £1.5 trillion a year, and new opportunities for the UK.”

In the plan, they keep referring to “ultra low emission vehicles” in order to stay powertrain agnostic, but many of the initiatives are specifically to encourage electric vehicle adoption.

It includes “£246 million in research for next generation battery technology” and a dozen different initiatives to expand electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

Here are the 46 points of the plan:

1. Increasing the supply and sustainability of low carbon fuels in the UK through a legally-binding 15-year strategy to more than double their use, reaching 7% of road transport fuel by 2032.
2. Taking action against garages offering the removal of emissions reduction technology, working with the DVSA, VCA and industry to ensure our regulatory and enforcement regimes give us the levers we need to tackle this problem.
3. Extending the Clean Vehicle Retrofit Accreditation Scheme (CVRAS) beyond buses, coaches and HGVs to include vans and black cabs.
4. Taking steps to accelerate the adoption of fuel-efficient motoring by company car drivers, businesses operating fleets, and private motorists.
5. Pursuing a future approach as we leave the European Union that is at least as ambitious as the current arrangements for vehicle emissions regulation.
6. Continuing to offer grants for plug-in cars, vans, taxis and motorcycles until at least 2020. The plug-in car and van grants will be maintained at the current rates until at least October 2018. Consumer incentives in some form will continue to play a role beyond 2020.
7. Consulting on reforming Vehicle Excise Duty to incentivise van drivers to make the cleanest choices when purchasing a new van.
8. Leading the way by ensuring 25% of the central Government car fleet is ultra low emission by 2022 and that all new car purchases are ultra low emission by default. Committing to 100% of the central Government car fleet being ultra low emission by 2030.1
9. Launching a 2018/19 Go Ultra Low campaign and continuing to work with industry on consumer communications about ultra low emission vehicles until at least 2020.
10. Setting up a new Road Transport Emissions Advice Group, bringing government, industry and consumer groups together to help ensure clear and consistent consumer messaging and advice on fuel and technology choices.
11. As set out in the Clean Air Strategy consultation, legislating to enable government to compel vehicle manufacturers to recall vehicles for an environmental nonconformity or failure, and to make tampering with emissions control systems a legal offence.
12. Supporting the early market for used ultra low emission vehicles by producing guidance, funding training and making appropriate changes to the DVLA V5 documentation.
13. Launching a call for evidence on particulate emissions from tyre, brake and road wear to improve our understanding of these emissions and consider options for how they might be reduced.
14. Continuing to take a technology neutral approach to meeting our ambitions.
15. Introducing a new voluntary industry-supported commitment to reduce HGV greenhouse gas emissions by 15% by 2025, from 2015 levels.
16. Launching a joint research project with Highways England to identify and assess zero emission technologies suitable for HGV traffic on the UK road network.
17. Working with industry to develop an ultra low emission standard for trucks.
18. Undertaking further emissions testing of the latest natural gas HGVs to gather evidence that will inform decisions on future government policy and support for natural gas as a potential near-term, lower emission fuel for HGVs.
19. Making the biggest increase in public investment in R&D in our history (towards a target for total R&D investment of 2.4% of GDP by 2027) and increasing the rate of R&D tax credit to 12%.
20. Fulfilling our commitment to provide £246 million to research next generation battery technology through the Faraday Battery Challenge.
21. Working with industry to set an ambition for a UK content target for the ultra low emission vehicle supply chain that is at least as ambitious as for conventional vehicles, as we look to secure investment in battery manufacturing in the UK.
22. Launching a new supply chain competitiveness and productivity improvement programme targeting areas where key businesses need to improve to match the best in Europe.
23. Working with the Institute of the Motor Industry to ensure the UK’s workforce of mechanics are well trained and have the skills they need to repair these vehicles safely, delivering for consumers.
24. Working with the Office for National Statistics to extend their data collection to include jobs and exports attributable to both low and ultra low emission vehicle technologies.
25. Making sustainable supply chains a key theme of our Zero Emission Vehicle Summit in September 2018.
26. Launching a £400 million Charging Infrastructure Investment Fund to help accelerate charging infrastructure deployment.
27. Taking powers through the Automated and Electric Vehicles Bill to ensure:
    1. that chargepoints are available at motorway service areas and large fuel retailers;
    2. that chargepoints are easily accessed and used across the UK. This includes powers to provide a uniform method of accessing public chargepoints and refuelling points; make certain information publicly available in an open and transparent format and set reliability standards; and
    3. hat chargepoints are smart ready by giving government powers to set requirements prohibiting the sale or installation of chargepoints unless they meet certain requirements.
28. Ensuring the houses we build in the coming years are electric vehicle ready. It is our intention that all new homes, where appropriate, should have a chargepoint available. We plan to consult as soon as possible on introducing a requirement for chargepoint infrastructure for new dwellings in England where appropriate.
29. Future-proofing our streets. We want all new street lighting columns to include charging points, where appropriately located, in areas with current on-street parking provision.
30. Continuing to provide grant support through the Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme (EVHS) until March 2019, with installations becoming smart enabled.
31. Increasing the grant level of the Workplace Charging Scheme from £300 per socket to 75% of the purchase and installation costs of a chargepoint capped at a maximum of £500 per socket.
32. Reviewing the provision of residential chargepoint infrastructure for those who have communal parking facilities, or do not own their own home, as part of the Law Commission’s work to review and reinvigorate the commonhold tenure in England and Wales.
33. Investing £4.5 million in the On-street Residential Chargepoint Scheme until 2020.
34. Consulting in summer 2018 on a proposal to increase the height limit for the Permitted Development Right in England for the installation of electric vehicle chargepoints in designated off-street parking spaces.
35. Ensuring local planning policies incorporate facilities for charging electric vehicles via the National Planning Policy Framework.
36. Consulting on amending Building Regulations to require relevant charging provision in new non-residential buildings.
37. Launching the process for a R&D programme of up to £40 million by summer 2018 to develop and trial innovative, low cost wireless charging and public on-street charging solutions that can be deployed across entire residential streets.
38. Continuing to future proof the Strategic Road Network by running a pilot to increase electrical capacity at a motorway service area working closely with Highways England.
39. Launching an Electric Vehicle Energy Taskforce to bring together the energy and automotive industries, in order to plan for future electric vehicle uptake and ensure the energy system can meet future demand in an efficient and sustainable way.
40. As part of the forthcoming call for evidence on last mile deliveries, gathering further evidence of any key network connection infrastructure barriers, which may prevent further uptake of ultra low emission vehicles, specifically for fleet operators.
41. Launching an electric vehicle chargepoint design competition.
42. Monitoring market developments to determine whether any significant gaps in charging infrastructure provision appear over the medium term, and considering whether there may be a case for direct central government support in areas of market failure, which may include rural areas.
43. Fulfilling a £48m ultra low emission bus scheme funding round to accelerate uptake and deployment of supporting infrastructure.
44. Launching a second round of funding for local authorities to roll out dedicated taxi charging infrastructure. We will make available a minimum of £6 million to support more local areas to make the switch.
45. Setting out definitions of ultra low and zero emission vehicles that local areas may adopt.
46. Running a series of roadshows across the UK on best practice approaches to driving the uptake of ultra low emission vehicles.

Here’s the plan in full:

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