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The Northern Ireland Assembly’s Committee for Infrastructure has launched an Inquiry into Decarbonising Northern Ireland’s Road Transport. As part of this inquiry, the Committee has prepared a survey to find out how people feel about ultra low emission vehicles—both pure electric and plug-in hybrids, as well as what they see as barriers to their use.

The United Kingdom has set a goal of achieving net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and, if Northern Ireland is to contribute to this ambitious goal, transport—which accounts for almost 28% of all greenhouse gas emissions—will need to change.

Chairperson of the Committee, Michelle McIlveen MLA recently said:

“We are all aware of the very challenging goal that the UK government has set, and we in Northern Ireland must play our part in achieving it.

“While the number of pure electric and plug-in hybrids has increased over recent years, their take-up is still at a very low rate. If we are to increase this significantly, we need to understand the reasons why people in Northern Ireland have been reluctant to give up their petrol and diesel vehicles.

“We already know that there are a number of factors that are holding us back; including the cost of these ultra low emissions cars but we need to know what our Executive can do to make such a change more attractive.”

Ms McIlveen concluded:

“Our survey, which can be accessed on the Assembly website, is designed to help us understand both how people feel about electric vehicles and what we can do to make their take-up more attractive. The survey will be online from today until Friday 16 April and I would urge everyone to take part in it.”

Notes to Editors

The Committee for Infrastructure survey can be found at this link along with more information about the Inquiry.