{"id":15666,"date":"2018-07-10T12:27:12","date_gmt":"2018-07-10T11:27:12","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/unitelive.org\/?p=15666"},"modified":"2020-11-12T12:58:37","modified_gmt":"2020-11-12T12:58:37","slug":"road-to-zero-electric-cars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/?p=15666","title":{"rendered":"‘Road to Zero’?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s strategy to curb vehicle emissions lacks clarity and could damage the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s motor industry, Unite has said.<\/p>\n

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The \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Road to Zero<\/a>\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 strategy, announced yesterday (July 9), proposes that all new cars will be electric by 2040.<\/p>\n

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At least 50 per cent and as many as 70 per cent of all new cars sold by 2030 should be electric or hybrid, the strategy states, as well as 40 per cent of all new vans.<\/p>\n

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In order for this to happen, and for the automobile sector to be properly supported, the government will need to recognise and support the use of hybrid engines in the \u00e2\u20ac\u0098just transition\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 to electric vehicles, Unite said.<\/p>\n

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The government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Road to Zero\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 strategy also outlined infrastructure plans to build charging points for electric vehicles<\/a> in new build homes.<\/p>\n

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However, Unite said for the plans to be successful there needs to be far more investment in the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s infrastructure, to drive the demand for electric cars, including battery production and recycling, as well as charging.<\/p>\n

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There needs to be uniformity in how drivers are charged and for re-charging times to be minimised, Unite pointed out.<\/p>\n

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The increase in the use of electric cars will also require the capacity of the National Grid to be increased, the union said.<\/p>\n

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The union is calling for the government to enter into urgent meaningful talks on a \u00e2\u20ac\u0098just transition\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 with the car industry and Unite, in order to defend employment for thousands of jobs in diesel engine production, and for a truly workable policy to be fully developed, which will avoid damaging the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s automobile<\/a> manufacturing sector.<\/p>\n

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Unite assistant general secretary Tony Burke said, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnite supports the just transition to electric cars but this must not be at the expense of the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s automotive industry and supply chain.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAfter years of confusion and indecision the government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s latest policy lacks direction, fails to tackle the huge infrastructure changes needed for drivers to be able to use their vehicles and lacks detail on jobs and future employment.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bAt this time of huge economic uncertainty the government is in severe danger of further damaging the car industry due to a failure to fully appreciate the challenges of introducing electric cars.<\/p>\n

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\u00e2\u20ac\u015bIf the proposals for all cars to be electric by 2040 are to be met, then the government needs to avoid unilateral off the cuff statements by ministers and politicians and properly consult industry and unions.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n

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Burke added, \u00e2\u20ac\u015bUnite is working with employers, international unions including our sister union IG Metall in Germany, in how we defend jobs, create new skills and ensure the UK maintains its position as a world leader in the automotive industry.\u00e2\u20ac\u0165<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The government\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s strategy to curb vehicle emissions lacks clarity and could damage the UK\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s motor industry, Unite has said.   The \u00e2\u20ac\u0098Road to Zero\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 strategy, announced yesterday (July 9), proposes that all new cars will be electric by 2040.   At least 50 per cent and as many as 70 per cent of all new […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":12871,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[230,588,854],"wps_subtitle":"Gov\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t electric cars strategy \u00e2\u20ac\u0098lacks clarity\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, warns Unite","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15666"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15666"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15666\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26059,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15666\/revisions\/26059"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12871"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15666"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15666"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/unitelive.test.igniteamt.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15666"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}