Momentum for the UK to ditch fossil fuel cars and vans is growing as Tesco joins a group of now 27 big corporates publicly calling on the UK Government to target 100% zero emission car and van sales from 2030.
In addition to Tesco, Dixons, Carphone, E.ON, Heathrow, Lime and SSE are also joining the UK Electric Fleets Coalition, a partnership launched by the Climate Group and BT, including Openreach. Together these companies are already working to electrify over 400,000 of their own vehicles in the UK, most of them through the Climate Group’s global EV100 campaign.
The coalition of businesses is also asking for policies to support UK manufacturing of battery electric vehicles to help the auto sector through the transition; extend financial incentives to further boost demand; and unlock investment to help rapidly rollout charging points.
‘We are delighted to become signatories of the EV100 campaign, which brings together both our commitment to transition to 100% electric vans, and our plan to install EV chargers for Tesco customers and colleagues all over the UK,’ said Giles Bolton, responsible sourcing director at Tesco.
‘The electrification of transport is crucial to becoming a zero carbon business by 2035 in the UK and 2050 globally, and we will need collaboration across industry and government through the likes of EV100 in order to overcome the barriers to transition together.’
The Government has consulted on bringing forward the end to the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans from 2040 to 2035, or earlier if a faster transition appears feasible. The consultation ended on 31 July 2020.
Commenting on a query from LAPV about the response to the consultation, a Department for Transport spokesperson said: ‘We want to build a greener transport system, reduce carbon emissions and boost economic growth in the UK which is why we’re supporting the transition to zero emission vehicles.
‘Our £2.5bn programme to support grants for plug in vehicles and funding?for chargepoint infrastructure at homes,?workplaces,?on residential streets?and across the wider roads network, are all part of our world-leading package to encourage electric vehicle uptake.’
