Sales of electric vehicles are expected to fall well short of Government targets, with petrol and diesel cars likely to dominate the streets until at least 2030.

A report published last week by consultant Ricardo AEA says even the most positive assessments predict 200,000 sales of plug in hybrid and pure battery powered cars each year in the UK by 2020. Some industry commentators say annual sales of electric vehicles could be as low as 40,000 within seven years.

Two million new cars were sold in the UK last year and there are around 29M cars on the country’s roads, it says. The report also points out that the Committee on Climate Change had previously said it would be feasible to see 1.7M fully electric and hybrid cars on the road by 2020.

Professor Stephen Glaister of the RAC Foundation, one of two groups to commission the report, said: “Estimating future sales of electric cars is not quite like sticking the tail on the donkey, but not far from it. We are unlikely to see as many electric cars sold as politicians might like.”

At a Parliamentary debate on plug in vehicles last Thursday, Transport Select Committee chair Louise Ellman asked if the electricity network could cope if there was a significant increase in demand for plug in vehicles. She added that electric vehicles may also present a road safety risk to pedestrians and cyclists because such vehicles make little noise.

“We broadly support the Government’s aim of kick starting the market for plug in vehicles to help achieve carbon reduction targets and support industry,” she added. “But in some ways their actions have not been strong enough. We have ample slow charging points and far too few quick charging points to allow electric vehicles to travel further.”

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