Join our campaign to accelerate the transition to electric cars

They’re better for the environment 

• Transport is the largest emitting sector of the UK economy, and cars and vans accounted for one fifth of UK carbon emissions in 2018.

• The sales ban is necessary to reduce emissions in line with the UK’s commitment to net zero emissions by 2050

• The ban will significantly reduce pollutants which are known to contribute to heart disease, stroke, low birth weight, and adult onset asthma, and which are linked to 40,000 early deaths in the UK every year

• And it will help to improve air quality in the UK’s towns and cities, vastly reducing toxic pollution that comes from burning carbon fuels 

• EVs will also help the UK meet its legally binding air quality standards

The benefits to the UK economy will be game-changing

• The global car industry is moving away from petrol and diesel - this decision puts the UK ahead of the curve, and makes us well-positioned to attract jobs, investment and services around electric cars. It stops Britain being left behind

• It will save UK motorists billions in motoring costs, reduce air pollution in our towns and cities and create thousands of new jobs

• Drivers are increasingly discovering the benefits of owning an electric car, from cheaper running costs to a better experience behind the wheel

• The second hand market is small but growing, and there are already some great options: a 2018 Ford Focus costs the same to own and run over 4 years as a 2018 Nissan Leaf

They save you money

• Switching to an electric car can save you around £1,000 per year

• The two big cost savings are on fuel (up to 75% cheaper than petrol) and tax

• You pay no road tax on a 100% electric car

• Electric cars are around £100 a year cheaper to maintain than traditional combustion cars. There are fewer moving parts - leading to fewer things going wrong

• As more people switch to EVs the upfront costs will come down substantially (we see this with all new technologies!) 

The grid will cope 

• Graeme Cooper, National Grid’s project director for transport decarbonisation dismissed claims that the grid won’t cope during an event in February of this year - read more here

The charging infrastructure is constantly improving 

• In March 2020 the government committed £500m to expand the UK’s charge point infrastructure

• You are never more than 25 miles from a rapid charger on a UK motorway or A road

• There are over 20,000 publicly available charge points in the UK - and given the number of people who charge at home there are more charge points than EVs that need them

• New EVs can typically drive 150-250 miles on a single charge 

• People do use them for longer journeys - by 2030 this will be much easier as charge point installation increases