Growth in popularity of electric cars is akin to the spread of the internet in the 1990s, minister claims
Renault ZOE plus a Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV and BMW i3 charging at London Gateway (Image: T. Larkum)
Electric cars are on track to become as ubiquitous as the internet, the transport minister has said, claiming plug-in vehicle technology was reaching a “tipping point”.
Andrew Jones, the roads minister, said sales of ultra-low emissions vehicles (ULEVs) were “rocketing”, with 28,188 new ULEV cars on the road in 2015 – almost double the number in 2014, and more than the previous five years combined.
Although this remains a tiny fraction of the overall car market – with a record 2.6 million new vehicles sold last year – the Government believes by 2050 it can get “virtually every car and van on the road to be zero emission”.
In a speech this week, Mr Jones said:
“The shift we are seeing reminds me of the spread of the internet in the 1990s.
“The internet started small, as a niche interest, but then it snowballed, and now it’s hard to imagine being without it.
“I think we are seeing a similar picture emerging for ultra-low emission vehicles in Britain today.
“ULEV sales are not just growing rapidly, they are rocketing.”
Read more: Telegraph