Less than 10% of electric car target hit

Electric cars have been held up as a climate change panacea but, like many of the proposals on that crisis, delivery and sustainability have become limiting actors. This is especially so in countries like this struggling to accept much less embrace the lifestyle and industrial changes necessary.

A decade ago, waving the flag of uncosted positivity that is never be held to account, Government suggested that by next year 10% of the car fleet — 200,000 or so vehicles — would be electric. In 2014, that target was reduced to 50,000. Last year, it was cut to 20,000 but even that 10% of the 2008 target is well beyond our reach. Only an estimated 8,000 electric vehicles will be in use in 2020. New charges at public top-up power points can only undermine those ambitions further.