Autumn Budget 2017
Last week, we saw the annual Autumn Budget 2017 take place. On Wednesday 22nd November, Chancellor Phillip Hammond delivered his speech, with our sector being a high focus.
During the speech, he announced the government will establish a new £400m Electric Vehicle charging infrastructure investment Fund (£200m new government investment to be matched by private investors).
He also announced that a further £100m would be to set aside to maintain the Plug-In Car grant, and £40m would be for research and development into charging technology.
“We’ll establish a new £400m charging infrastructure fund. Invest an extra £100 million in plug-in-car grant, and £40 million in charging R&D.”
‘Economy Fit For The Future’
With currently 115,000 electric cars in the UK, there are 13,000 charging points spread across 4,500 locations.
The budget follows last months announcement that a brand-new bill could force petrol and service stations to install charging stations for electric and hybrid vehicles.
A commitment to make 25% of cars in central government department fleets electric by 2022 was also announced.
Tax for employees who recharge their vehicles at work would be removed and an innovation prize will be launched by the National Infrastructure Commission, to determine how roads should be built to support self-driving cars.
“Our future vehicles will be driverless, but they’ll be electric first. And that’s a change that needs to come as soon as possible.”
The Future
“It is most certainly an exciting time for the industry. Together with the government’s support, the UK can be a leader in Electric Vehicle charging infrastructure. Solisco is excited to support this transition with our innovative Solar EV-Ports.”
Read more articles on this years budget:
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/autumn-budget-2017-documents/autumn-budget-2017
