On 31st May, I published on this site, a piece criticising electric cars. At that time, His Majesty’s Government was going to insure that no new petrol or diesel powered vehicles would be sold in the UK after 2030.

I shan’t recapitulate all of the points and questions of that article here. If you wish to remind yourself of them, or to acquaint yourself with them for the first time, you can read the original piece by following the link below.

The People Are Being Conned

As I write, the media are eagerly anticipating a speech from the Prime Minister, Rishi Sunak, in which he will announce, they insist, that the date is to be put back to 2035. I am neither surprised by this possibility, nor sorry that it might happen. By 2030, we will still not have all of the necessary infrastructure, nor will anyone have come up with any sensible answers to the questions I posed in May.

I am forced to acknowledge that Mr Sunak won’t ever come to his senses and ban electric cars. Neither, when he almost certainly comes to power at some point during the next fifteen months, will Sir Keir Starmer. But there is a way for them to mitigate this insanity. One only hopes that they have the wit to realise it.

For years, we have been told by various politicians of differing persuasions, that we should use cars less, and public transport more. Almost nobody disputes the logic behind these exhortations. But there are two reasons why they do not act upon them.

Firstly, unless you live in London, it’s very difficult to avoid having a car. Most cities have bus services which are inferior to that of London, and in most rural areas, buses are a memory. If there are bus services in a rural area, they are infrequent.

Secondly, it can be ruinously expensive, especially if one uses taxis or trains. The cost of making a journey, couple with an appalling lack of reliability, will keep people in their cars.

Both Sunak and Starmer must give up on this nonsensical idea of electric cars for all, and focus on investing in a properly functioning public transport system. Politicians are desperately searching for a way in which the UK can be a “world beater”. If we had decent, comfortable, and reliable bus services, and decent, comfortable, reliable, affordable trains, thus reducing the need for privately owned vehicles, our transport system could be the envy of the world.