Ford in the UK is calling on policymakers, energy providers, local authorities, consumers and the automotive industry to join forces on a nationwide electrification strategy that will ‘set the country on the right trajectory for 2030’.

Since February, Ford has announced significant investments across Europe as it goes ‘all-in on electrification’, committing its entire passenger vehicle range being all-electric by 2030, and to the majority of its commercial vehicles sales being all-electric or plug-in hybrid in the same timeframe.

However, the company says that individual actions are not enough and that a coordinated effort is needed to help consumers move to an electrified future. Stuart Rowley, who is president of Ford of Europe, said: “At Ford, we are putting our plan into action.

In the UK, the electrification transition is underway, but we will not achieve the Government’s 2030 target organically. We need a plan, supporting the rollout of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, in operation ahead of November’s critical COP26 climate summit.

“The scale of the challenge requires a partnership between all the key stakeholders — Government, the automotive industry, energy providers, local authorities and consumers — and focusing on accelerating the development of the charging infrastructure at home, in the workplace and in public locations. It also should encourage consumers to purchase all-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles through stronger incentives.”

Ford’s announcement comes as the first in its series of quarterly ‘consumer sentiment’ reports — Go Electric — reveals widespread lack of awareness and hesitancy towards electrified vehicles (EVs) and their ecosystems among much of the UK population.

While the report shows that the appetite for EVs is increasing — 28% of respondents said they plan to buy an one within the next five years — a substantial proportion of drivers still have reservations.

More than one in five say they have no intention of buying an EV, while a further fifth said they would not buy an EV until they have no other option; and when asked how confident they were about EV technology, more than half said they did not know the difference between electrified vehicle types, while four out of five said they would not be comfortable explaining EVs to a friend.

As part of the new Go Electric report, Ford has also outlined the following four key action points that the UK needs to address: ‘Comprehensive Roadmap’ (an action plan led by Government and agreed by all relevant stakeholders, which sets out the ‘how’ and ‘when’ of the switch to electrification); ‘Charging Infrastructure’ (charging points need to be accessible for all with public charging points required across the UK so that no regions are left behind ); ‘Incentivisation’ (a need for a comprehensive regime of both purchase and usage incentives that encourage consumers to adopt all-electric and plug-in hybrid technologies); and ‘Information for all’ (consumers have said they do not feel that they have enough information on EVs, which is why a collective effort from all stakeholders is required to ensure customers have confidence in the technologies).