Brown's electric cars won't wash - not without clean electricity and bold new transport policy, says Green Party

Professor John Whitelegg, the Green Party's spokesperson on sustainable development, said today:

"Tokenism just won't wash. We need commitment to serious policies.

"It was always disingenuous to put a greenish tinge on the Budget. But with the climate crisis deepening, anything less than a solid commitment to a very low-carbon future is downright irresponsible."

"Britain needs massive investment in the whole emissions-reduction package - from green transport policies to green energy. That's the way to tackle the recession and the climate crisis in one go.

The Greens say Gordon Brown's plans for electric cars are flawed for a variety of reasons:

• Electric cars are only as clean as the energy that powers them. In a Green economy electric cars will be recharged with wind, solar and tidal energy, rather than coal and nuclear power. To make sure of this, Gordon Brown must commit the government to stopping all further coal-fired power stations and investing massively in renewables.

• Brown needs to be bolder on the recharging network itself. Denmark (with around one-tenth of the UK's population) is already committed to 20,000 recharge points for a nationwide system of electric cars, with Israel, Portugal and Japan close behind. Britain is still at the tentative stage of a pilot programme, with Brown saying a few cities will have trials by the end of 2010 (1).

• A focus on electric vehicles doesn't take into account our need to reduce traffic for reasons other than emissions. Low-carbon traffic congestion will still be traffic congestion and will still cost UK businesses billions every year.

• For Brown's and Darling's plans to be credible, ongoing road-building and road-widening projects must be scrapped as part of a serious effort at traffic reduction. Without this, short-term transport emissions will seriously undermine attempts to meet the necessary emissions targets. And the money saved from road-building could be put into low-emissions transport infrastructure.

• Similarly, they need to abandon projects like the third runway at Heathrow. The gains from a green industrial push will be negated if the government persists in the greatest expansion of aviation in a generation.

(DFT) Government to help motorists and industry get on the low carbon road

Business Secretary Peter Mandelson and Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon today launched the Government's vision to promote ultra low carbon transport over the next five years.

Central to the strategy is an initiative to help put electric cars into the reach of ordinary motorists by providing help worth £2000 - £5000 towards buying the first electric and plug in hybrid cars when they hit the showrooms - which we expect from 2011 onwards.

The Government has recently committed to placing low carbon transport at the centre of its vision for the UK economy. Today's announcement will promote infrastructure and support technology development and encourage manufacture in the UK, whilst incentivising consumers.

This funding is included in a £250 million scheme to deliver a green motoring transformation, part of the wider Government support to help consumers and businesses make the transition to low carbon.

Transport Secretary Geoff Hoon said;

"Cutting road transport CO2 emissions is a key element to tackling climate change. Less than 0.1% of the UK's 26 million cars are electric, so there is a huge untapped potential to reduce emissions.

"The scale of incentives we're announcing today will mean that an electric car is a real option for motorists as well as helping to make the UK a world leader in low carbon transport."

The strategy also includes plans to provide £20 million for charging points and related infrastructure to help develop a network of 'electric car cities' throughout the UK and an expansion of an electric and ultra-low carbon car demonstration project on the UK's roads. This project will mean over 200 motorists throughout the country will have the opportunity to drive a cutting-edge car and feedback the information needed to make greener motoring an everyday reality.

Business Secretary Peter Mandelson said;

"Britain has taken a world lead in setting ambitious targets for carbon reduction. Low carbon vehicles will play a key role in cutting emissions. Government must act now to ensure that the business benefits of this ambition are realised here in the UK. We want the British motor industry to be a leader in the low carbon future, and Government must direct and support this, through what I call new industrial activism."

The Government has already committed around £400 million of support to encourage development and uptake of ultra-low emission vehicles. This is in addition to a £2.3bn package of support for the automotive sector in the downturn that has been specifically designed to support the development of green technologies to provide solutions for carbon reduction and a world leading low carbon automotive industry.

Speaking today, Richard Parry-Jones, Chairman of the industry led New Automotive Innovation and Growth Team (NAIGT) welcomed the announcement:

"The auto sector in the UK has transformed itself into a world-class industry, with superb design and engineering skills, very high productivity, product reliability that rivals the best in the world, and flexible, constructive labour relations. Today's announcement represents a major step towards achieving the NAIGT's ambition of ensuring that the industry in the UK can play a decisive global role in developing and manufacturing exciting, low carbon vehicles for the future."