The National Grid needs a £30 billion boost tin time for ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars

Britain’s electricity grid is being upgraded too slowly to meet the 2030 ban on sales of new petrol and diesel cars, the government’s infrastructure czar warns.

Sir John Armitt said the current electricity grid is unable to carry ‘enough energy’ needed for the switch to electric driving.

Up to £30bn is to be pumped into upgrading it by the end of the decade, which he fears will be passed on to consumers via higher bills or taxes.

He also said thousands of miles of cables, power substations and pylons still need to be installed to expand the grid’s capacity, but that this has been held up by Britain’s antiquated planning system.

This will fuel concerns that rural areas are under threat from the government’s zero reduction ambitions – with ministers drafting sweeping planning reforms that could accelerate infrastructure and impose it on local communities.

Sir John argues that the move to renewable energy sources exacerbates the problem, as energy generated through technologies, such as offshore wind, must be transported to land.

The Daily Mail has launched a campaign calling on ministers to reconsider the 2030 target, aimed at boosting the switch to electric cars and supporting efforts to reach net-zero emissions by 2050.

Sir John stressed that he believes the 2030 target is achievable but could easily be ‘undermined’ by challenges in upgrading the grid.

Asked about the 300,000 street chargers ministers want to install for plug-in cars by 2030, he said: ‘It’s all very well to install them, but if you don’t have the juice to plug it in then that’s your next step. challenge. .

‘An electrified economy needs a different grid than the one we have now. It must be smarter and more distributed, especially if you use sustainable energy for generation.

“National Grid talks about huge investments, but at the moment they are not making as much progress as they would like because it takes time to get planning permission.

You can’t just dig a trench across a field and lay cables and install pylons and substations without planning permission.’

He said that by 2050 the electricity grid should be able to handle about four times as much electricity as it does today.

Sir John stressed that he believes the 2030 target is achievable but could easily be ‘undermined’ by challenges in upgrading the grid

When asked if the 2030 target for banning the sale of new petrol and diesel cars is realistic, he added: “It is clearly a challenge.

“It fundamentally relies on municipalities and companies having the ability to put in the charging points because they know they have the juice available at the end of the cable.

“If I installed a charger, I wouldn’t install one until I knew it had enough energy.”

Lord Bamford, chairman of JCB, expressed dismay in yesterday’s Daily Mail that the government is ignoring other net-zero technologies that don’t require the volume of additional infrastructure that pure EVs will.

JCB has developed a hydrogen internal combustion engine for its excavators that can be simulated for cars.

Motorists would fill up with hydrogen in a similar way as motorists now do at gas stations. But Britain has not invested as much in the technology as other countries.

There are 15 hydrogen filling stations in the UK, compared to about 100 in Germany.

MPs of the Commons Transport Committee also want ministers to pay more attention to the potential of sustainable fuels.

Lord Bamford, chairman of JCB, which has developed a hydrogen-powered internal combustion engine for its excavators (pictured), said the government is ignoring other net-zero technologies

Biofuels, which are generated from waste products and synthetic fuels made from ‘defossilized’ carbon dioxide sources, can reduce emissions. A poll for the Daily Mail conducted by Survation found that only 29 per cent of the public said they would be confident buying an electric car to use as their only vehicle based on current infrastructure.

On the other hand, 39 percent would not be confident.

To meet the government’s target of 300,000 chargers by 2030, an average of 110 will need to be installed per day between now and the end of the decade. But on average about 34 are currently being installed every day.

By the beginning of April there were 40,150 councilors and privately installed throughout Britain.

Publicly available chargers are critical to meeting the goal, as an estimated 40 percent of households lack access to street parking.