Quentin Willson launches petition to make EVs more affordable

Award-winning motoring broadcaster and transport campaigner Quentin Willson has started a petition on Change.org to make electric vehicles more affordable.

Quentin recently launched a new EV and charging campaign which will lobby the government for fair charging, infrastructure and promote a wider understanding of electric cars. In an exclusive interview with Transport + Energy, for whom Quentin writes an exclusive column and sits on the editorial board, he laid out his reasons for launching the FairCharge campaign. Quentin recently wrote to the Treasury to demand they reduce the VAT rate levied at public EV chargers from 20% to 5% and has requested a meeting with the Chancellor Rishi Sunak to discuss how to “turbocharge” EV adoption in the UK.  

He is now encouraging people to sign up at https://change.org/faircharge to help increase the power of the campaign.

Speaking on the petition page, he said: “In about 400 weeks the Government will ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans as part of their ambition for the UK to reach net zero emissions. But owning an electric vehicle (EV) has to be made affordable and practical for hard-pressed families and businesses, because these vehicles hold the key for making our air clean again – for us and for our children.

“The Government needs to do much, much more. That means helping to make electric vehicles affordable for everyone and putting in place a national charging network so that drivers across the UK are confident of life with an EV. I have started the FairCharge campaign to make sure this happens.

“Greater uptake of the latest, long-range electric vehicles will help us improve air quality, give greater energy security, lower our fuel costs and reduce climate change. Electric cars and vans are the beginning of the process of transitioning from polluting fossil fuels to renewable energy – a once in a generation opportunity to stop burning hydrocarbons.”

Quentin is calling on the Government to make sure that:

• There are enough EV chargers across the whole the country that can be easily accessed at an affordable price
• People who can’t charge at home are not penalised by paying four times as much VAT as those charging at home
• Incentives exist not just for buying new electric cars but also in the second hand market where most people buy their cars.

Find out more and sign the petition here.