Government and manufacturers unveil “groundbreaking” electric vehicles campaign

The Government has joined forces with major vehicle manufacturers in a campaign to persuade people to consider electric or hybrid cars.

The campaign, ‘Go Ultra Low’, was unveiled yesterday by Nick Clegg, deputy prime minister, who also announced that that Government is to invest more than £9m in additional charging points for electric cars.

There are currently more than 6,000 public chargepoints across the UK and, according to the Government, there are more chargepoints than filling stations in London.

Nick Clegg described electric cars as one of the UK’s “most promising green industries” and said that the Government is keen to “secure the UK’s position as a global leader in the production and adoption of these vehicles”.

The Go Ultra Low campaign is backed by BMW, Nissan, Renault, Toyota and Vauxhall in what is being described as “a ground breaking partnership with Government to debunk common myths and misconceptions that put drivers off switching to electric or hybrid cars”.

The campaign website enables people to match their own needs with the ultra low emission vehicle that’s right for them, as well as providing information highlighting the advantages of these vehicles.

The DfT says that electric cars cost from just 2p a mile to run, which means a saving of around £1,000 on fuel costs based on 10,000 miles per annum. It also points out that owners do not have to pay car tax or congestion charges and that many chargepoints are free to use.

Nick Clegg said: “The extremely low running costs of electric cars help drivers save money and we are allocating more than £9 million to boost chargepoints across the country to help drivers to go green.”

The £9.3 million allocation will come from the £37 million for electric vehicle infrastructure announced in July 2013. The Government has also committed to invest £5 million to introduce electric vehicles across public sector fleets this year.

Robert Goodwill, transport minister, said the Go Ultra Low campaign is “about opening people’s eyes to the advantages of ultra low emission vehicles”.

Click here to read the full DfT news release.