Ultra-low emission vehicles will be a massive growth industry for the UK
2 min read
Leading the way on ultra-low emission vehicles will be good for both the UK economy and the environment says Conservative Andrew Selous MP.
The United Kingdom has much to be proud of in having the largest market in the European Union for ultra-low emission vehicles. These new energy vehicles will be a massive growth industry of the future which the United Kingdom needs to be right at the heart of. While our record is good, we only have 87,000 ultra-low emission vehicles currently on our roads out of a total of over 31 million cars on our roads. In Norway a quarter of all vehicles are electric or hybrid electric vehicles already and China currently has over 550,000 electric vehicles. China expects to produce 2 million new energy vehicles a year by 2020 and is installing 800,000 charging points this year.
I want the United Kingdom to have a similar level of ambition and a similar growth trajectory for this market.
This issue matters not just for the health of the United Kingdom economy but in order to cut carbon, help the UK respond to the challenge of energy security, reduce the cost of motoring for our constituents and of vital importance as well it is a major part of our response to improving our air quality which 40% of the local authorities across the United Kingdom are in breach of. A quarter of the school children in London are breathing in illegal polluted air and last week London’s air was worse than Beijing. These are all reasons why the development of the UK’s ultra-low emission vehicle industry is so important.
Andrew Selous is the Conservative Member of Parliament for South West Bedfordshire
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