Electric dreams? Cars and the future of transport

This session is part of Buxton Battle of Ideas festival. Find out more here.

In 2020, the government announced a ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel vehicles by the end of the decade, part of the journey towards a climate-friendly ‘net zero’ society by 2050. Over £1.8 billion has been invested in infrastructure and grants to promote zero-emission vehicles, as well as to increase access to them – with nearly £500million going towards helping the industry and supporting some 169,000 jobs in the automotive sector.

However, for many, the transition to electric vehicles raises concerns. Electric cars are currently more expensive to buy, which might price many people out of the market, while early adopters fear that the value of their cars will depreciate rapidly. In addition, despite government assurance of grants for homeowners, businesses and local authorities to install charging points, many critics argue that there are still too few of them, particularly given that the cars’ range is still too low for many longer journeys. And, crucially, there are concerns about how we will generate all the extra electricity we will need when we are also phasing out fossil fuels in favour of low-carbon sources like wind, solar and nuclear.

There are fiscal issues facing the government, too. While owners of petrol vehicles pay fuel taxes and vehicle duties of roughly £1,100 per year, for electric vehicles it is only £320. How will governments make up the shortfall in revenue? And while electric cars cost more to buy, they are cheaper to drive and maintain, so some commentators worry about an increased risk of congestion and gridlock.

These concerns come at a time when many believe there is already a ‘war on cars’, from low-traffic neighbourhoods and lowering of speed limits to ‘spy in the cab’ technology and restrictions on parking spaces in new developments. Yet for millions of people, the democratisation of personal mobility has been a huge liberation, particularly for women who now have access to reliable and secure transport of their own. While campaigners and politicians love to talk about better buses and trains, is better public transport outside metropolitan areas economically viable?

There are wider economic and regional issues, too. The Midlands and the North thrived in the past in part thanks to a successful car manufacturing industry, with major employers like Jaguar Land Rover in the West Midlands, Toyota in Derby and Nissan in Sunderland still providing many high-quality skilled jobs. As driving is discouraged, some worry about the impact on these local economies and on the wider goal of rebalancing the economy away from the South East.

Where once we dreamed of jetpacks, where is the inspiring vision for transport in the future? If our love affair with the car is really over, is public transport up to the challenge of allowing people to move about freely? Are large-scale projects like HS2 ready to meet the demands of a greener economy? And, ultimately, do people really understand what the transition to ‘net zero’ means for our ability to travel?