GB News host Eamonn Holmes has grilled Labour's Roads Minister Lilian Greenwood on the Government's latest electric car incentive, declaring the scheme is "only good if people buy them".
The initiative provides discounts of up to £3,750 to make zero-emission cars more affordable for British consumers and aims to bridge the price difference between electric and traditional petrol vehicles.
Pressed by host Nana Akua on whether she personally owns an electric car, Greenwood admitted she currently drives a "hybrid vehicle".
She told GB News: "Our household car is a hybrid, but we're going to be getting an electric one next. I think we're in the same position as lots of people."
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|Eamonn Holmes grilled Roads Minister Lilian Greenwood on Labour's new electric car grant
The minister acknowledged that many people share similar concerns when considering an electric vehicle purchase.
"I think we're in the same position as lots of people, if you're thinking of changing your car, you would like to have an electric vehicle. You want to go green, but you're perhaps a bit worried about the upfront cost and a bit worried about whether you'll be able to charge it easily and conveniently," she said.
Criticising the grant scheme, Eamonn Holmes claimed that the incentive is "only good if people buy them", and the Government must "make them more attractive" to buyers.
Eamonn stated: "It's only good if people buy them, and obviously at the moment they're not buying them. And you've got to make that attractive.
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GETTY | Drivers can access a £3,750 discount on electric vehicles under £37,000 "I appreciate the task that you have and I appreciate that I, for instance, would want to do what I would deem to be the right thing, the right thing for the environment, but I just know it wouldn't be the right thing for me, and I'll not be buying it until I'm forced to buy one."
Greenwood responded: "Actually, a lot of people do want to buy them. If you look at the last month, one in four new cars bought in the UK was an electric vehicle. That's a 38 per cent increase in the first six months of this year compared with the first six months of last year.
"But we know that upfront cost is an issue, obviously when people do get an electric vehicle they can get around, they can save about £1,500 a year because they're very economical to run, especially if you can charge at home. You can travel for as little as two pence per mile, so you could drive from London to Birmingham for about £2.50. So it's really good value."
Greenwood also highlighted that the charging infrastructure is expanding rapidly to meet growing demand, topping "82,000".
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|Greenwood told GB News that a £25million scheme has also been announced for 'cross-pavement solutions'
Greenwood explained: "I recognise not everybody's yet convinced, but a lot of people do want to be able to do it.
"And of course we're expanding the ChargePoint network all the time, there's a new ChargePoint, a public ChargePoint going in every 30 minutes now, 82,000 across the country, and we're determined to make sure that that continues to ramp up."
Greenwood also outlined Labour's £25million grant for "cross-pavement solutions", which Nana Akua branded "ridiculous".
She told GB News: "About 68 per cent of people have got a driveway so can charge on their drive at home, but we want everyone to have the opportunity to switch to a cleaner, greener electric vehicle.
"We announced a new grant of £25million to enable local authorities to roll out cross-pavement solutions. So if you live in a terraced street, you park on the road outside your house, but obviously you don't want a dangerous cable trailing across the pavement.
"So there are these pavement gullies that allow you to run the cable through the pavement, but there's a sort of flap over the top that keeps the pavement safe for anyone walking along."