What do they say to lead by example? As a recent BBC survey revealed, when it comes to electric cars, our politicians are rather more inclined to promote adoption than spending their own money on it.
The BBC found only two takers: Tory MP Grant Schapps, owner of a Tesla Model 3, and Ed Milliband of Labor, who has pledged to lease one.
Boris Johnson? An old diesel powered Toyota Previa. Keir Starmer? A mild hybrid Toyota CH-R. It’s not a political party show, but it’s a personal chronicle: I don’t think either of them is really good enough for them to then preach with credibility.
The rest? Well, the BBC’s inquiries have met with silence more often than not, so it’s hard to say for sure, but it’s hard not to pit the tumbleweed blowing through Westminster with vehement political support for change. climate right now.
Allegra Stratton, the Prime Minister’s climate spokesperson, added special attention when she said her car was a diesel. When asked why it wasn’t electric, she replied “I don’t feel like it yet”, saying her parents live 200 miles away and “having to stop to recharge would slow the journey down. “.
Like you and I, Stratton is entitled to an opinion and to spend her money in any legal way, but given her role, she might have sounded less like Gerald Ratner if she had offered a better insight into the capacities of electric cars and charging infrastructure. His hesitation is understandable, his one-sided response ignorant.
That storm was over – until the BBC asked Alok Sharma, the minister responsible for leading the COP26 climate change conference in Glasgow this year, what he was leading. Yes, you guessed it: a diesel, a decision he reassured was acceptable because “I don’t drive it a lot”, which instead compromises why you would buy one (more expensive up front, cheaper to ride).
Of course, there are plenty of official cars available to these people for work – and here the picture is clearer, with 35 (65%) of the 54 cars listed as hybrid or electric, and a process of trying to ” improve the mix with a clear turnaround time. It may be at odds with its role, however, that the PMO alone has only heat-engine cars (two diesel and one gasoline) to lean on.
I doubt any of this changes anyone’s perspective on where to vote or whether electric cars are good or bad, but if authenticity and integrity is your thing, it might be worth it. worth considering asking more of anyone at any level in setting a program to live by this.
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Source: www.autocar.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-08-29 23:01:23
