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THIRTY top politicians have backed The Sun’s Give Us A Brake campaign — as it emerged Britain’s creaking power grid cannot cope with charging electric cars.
A motoring boss yesterday warned that the extra power required by 2030 will be 12 times what is being used by electric cars today — with drivers already turning up at forecourts to find shortages.
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And it emerged that Business Secretary Kemi Badenoch fears new rules forcing manufacturers to make one in five cars electric from next year are too stringent — with motoring bosses saying it threatens investment and could make them quit the UK.
So far, 24 MPs and six peers have joined our demand to end the war on motorists and delay the 2030 ban on new petrol and diesel cars.
Across Europe and in major American states, the phase-out target is 2035.
France and Spain are giving people until 2040 to go electric.
READ MORE ON ELECTRIC CARS
After hinting at a climbdown last week, PM Rishi Sunak yesterday again committed to the 2030 target.
But politicians who are members of the Net Zero Scrutiny Group and the New Conservatives got behind our five-point manifesto.
They said: “We’re backing the Sun campaign to back motorists and make sure policy delivers for working people.”
Net Zero Scrutiny Group MPs included Tories Marcus Fysh, Karl McCartney, Greg Smith, Caroline Johnson, Chris Green, Nigel Mills and Craig Tracey, as well as the DUP’s Sammy Wilson.
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New Conservatives bloc supporters included Danny Kruger, Miriam Cates, Lia Nici, Marco Longhi, Andrew Lewer and Paul Bristow.
Their plea for a delay came amid fresh evidence that the UK does not have anywhere near enough chargers or sufficient power to even fuel the current crop of electric cars.
Ken McMeikan, managing director of Moto Hospitality service stations, told of “major, major problems” with introducing enough chargers and power to ramp up the grid.
He said EV drivers are already turning up to charge cars only to find there is not enough power.
He warned Britain needs extra power equivalent to running a quarter of a nuclear power station to properly have enough electricity.
Ministers must come forward with targets for boosting the grid — and enough chargers to give drivers the confidence to switch over, he said.
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He told the BBC: “Getting the right number of chargers is not a challenge — getting enough power for those chargers to actually operate well enough for EV drivers is a major, major problem.
“We’ve put sufficient chargers on four of our motorway service areas, and the power required once the chargers were put in place is not available.
“So EV drivers are turning up to motorway service areas and there are chargers — but no power.”
By 2030, experts think 25 per cent of people arriving at service stations will be driving electric.
Just three per cent of UK cars are electric now.
Mr McMeikan said: “If we’re struggling to get sufficient power to sites now, the scale of power required in just seven years is 12 times greater than it is today.
“I don’t believe the grid at the moment has the infrastructure and the power available at the time that is going to be needed.”
Business Secretary Ms Badenoch’s concerns over electric car manufacturing quotas come as carmakers warn the rules are threatening the UK’s motoring industry.
The Zero Emission Mandate will force 22 per cent of all new car sales next year to be electric — ramping up to 100 per cent by 2035.
But critics say the plans — which have still yet to be confirmed by ministers — are too much, too soon.
Ford UK chairman Tim Slatter said the mandate is threatening his firm’s business and investment plans.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, which represents the UK car industry, has said new electric car sales will account for just 18.4 per cent for 2023 instead of its earlier prediction of a 19.7 per cent market share.
It blames economic pressures on families and a lack of charging points for restricting the speed of uptake in electric cars.
And there are fears the number of charging points is still woefully short. Just 44,000 exist currently.
The UK needs 2.3 million to meet our 2035 needs.
A source close to the Business Secretary said: “Kemi has been raising concerns with colleagues in the Cabinet.
“Honda and Toyota are not the only manufacturers who have raised concerns.
“If major car companies employing thousands of people are saying that there’s a problem, then it’s her job to look at ways to ease that problem.”
Earlier tonight, the Department for Transport said: “As the PM has set out, we want to support motorists, and that’s why we have frozen fuel duty and will be reviewing the impact of low traffic neighbourhoods — guaranteeing people’s freedom to travel how they want.
“We remain committed to phasing out the purchase of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030 — providing certainty to industry and helping UK car manufacturers invest in the future.”
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Tory MP Craig Mackinlay said: “I am delighted to support The Sun’s Give Us A Brake campaign, and that so many of my colleagues have chosen to do the same.
“I hope that similar common sense, in tune with millions of drivers, will be supported by the Government too.”
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