APPG 2030 Ban

Fair Fuel APPG for UK Motorists and UK Hauliers August 2021 Page | 18 Will the Government’s push to make us drive EVs, be a Betamax moment or more worryingly, the next diesel-gate? At the heart of the push for all of us to stop using petrol and diesel to fuel our transport choices is an obsession that Electric Vehicles and cycling are the answers to our future road travel needs. EVs give instant torque right from the start, and are so clean and simple – so what is not to like? Well, we must start asking the right questions by obtaining objective answers that will benefit the electorate, not panic drivers with virtue signalling speculation and inflict unnecessary levels of expense on them and our post pandemic economy. Politicos cannot just listen to well financed emotional environmental lobbying groups. There must be a long-term road user plan put in place, involving the hitherto ignored input from the main road using stakeholders: The part of the electorate that generate £50bn per year to the Exchequer. UK’s Drivers! Ross Clark for the Daily Mail said 6 : “Tony Blair's government tried as hard as it could to persuade us to switch to diesels, by cutting duty on the fuel and introducing a new system of vehicle excise tax based on carbon emissions per mile. Those who, like millions of us, took the bait are now treated as environmental vandals, effectively banned from driving in some cities by the imposition of eye- watering charges. Now it is the turn of electric car-buyers to fall for the Government's sales patter. Go for a new, pure electric vehicle with a list price of £35,000 or lower and the Government will subsidise your purchase to the tune of £2,500.” Colin Andrews, automotive engineering consultant for CSA Performance in his excellent article 2 pondered the future of the automotive industry and along with members of the Fair Fuel APPG, (FFUK) FairFuelUK, (ABD) Alliance of British Drivers, (MAG) Motorcycle Action Group and the (GWPF) Global Warming Policy Foundation, asks whether electrification of vehicle transport is really the way forward. Colin Andrews said 2 : “The vehicle manufacturing industry should stand proud of its achievements, rather than allowing itself to be bounced into doing the wrong thing. The consequences will be more dire than diesel-gate. We do not need electric cars. We’ve had the answer for decades.” Boris Johnson's plan 26 to make the UK 'net zero' in terms of carbon emissions by 2050 to help fight climate change will add £469billion to national debt, the economic watchdog warned today. Electric Vehicles: A panacea or a folly? At the moment all we seem to hear and read, in an anti-car dominated one-sided agenda are misleading reports that petrol or diesel is bad, and electric powered vehicles are the ultimate transport solution that will save the planet.