A couple of weeks ago I was fortunate enough to be invited to a dinner branded the Chargemaster Forum – hosted by the electric vehicle charging specialist Chargemaster – which brought a room full of experts (and a couple of journalists) together to discuss where the industry is heading.
While I didn’t agree with everything that was said by a collection of individuals with a keen interest in the success of the technology, it did bring home that a lot of disparate groups containing smart people are working passionately towards the same goal of pushing plug-in technology into the mainstream.
The key message continues to be the need for clarity on incentives. The Government needs to signpost its intentions, perhaps most importantly indicating when it will remove the incentives altogether.
If the industry knows when that is coming then it can plan. Everyone understands that Government subsidies won’t last forever, but they are a very helpful incentive right now, and their proposed duration is a vital piece of information.
Which is why it would be great if the Government would confirm its plans for vehicles ordered beyond February 2016, a date only half a dozen weeks away.
The presumption is that the three bands announced earlier this year, depending on vehicle emissions, will receive different levels of incentive, but sooner rather than later would be nice in terms of hearing what the actual numbers are.
