Green number plates: why the UK government may introduce them for electric cars

Green number plates will be issued to zero-emission vehicles if the Government’s latest plans to persuade more car buyers to go electric are given the go-ahead.

The Department for Transport (DfT) says green registration plates would make electric vehicles “easily identifiable” and could be used to “help their drivers benefit from incentives such as free parking or access to clean air zones”, The Guardian reports.

An official consultation has been launched into the scheme, which was inspired by a similar strategy used by the Canadian government to boost electric car sales.

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Elisabeth Costa, a director on the Government’s Behavioural Insights Team (BIT), says “the number of clean vehicles on our roads is increasing but we don’t notice, as it’s difficult to tell clean vehicles apart from more polluting ones”.

“Green number plates make these vehicles, and our decision to drive in a more environmentally friendly way, more visible on roads,” she continued. “We think making the changing social norm noticeable will help encourage more of us to swap our cars for cleaner options.”

However, some industry experts argue that other measures are needed to push buyers towards zero-emission cars, such as reinstating grants for hybrid vehicles.

What will the number plates look like?

The Government is currently evaluating three different designs for the number plates.

The first design is an all-green plate, the second is a standard white or yellow number plate with a green column at the left-hand side, and the third is the same standard plate with a green circle instead of a column, says Auto Express.

What benefits could be offered to EV owners?

According to DfT, local councils would have the ultimate say but incentives could include allowing zero-emission car drivers to use bus lanes and to pay less for parking.

Nottingham City Council already runs a scheme that benefits drivers of electric vehicles, The Daily Telegraph reports. Any electric vehicle registered in the area gets a green sticker that allows drivers to use bus lanes in the more congested parts of the city.

And the response to the plans?

Speaking to Auto Express, AA chief Edmund King said that while some motorists will “see it as a ‘plate of honour’”, speccing a green number plate on their zero-emission car should be optional.

That view was echoed by Nicholas Lyes, the RAC’s head of road policy, who said: “While the sentiment seems right, there are question marks as to whether drivers would see this as a badge of honour or alternatively it could foster resentment among existing drivers of petrol and diesel vehicles.

“On the face of it, drivers we’ve questioned don’t seem too impressed. Only a fifth think it’s a good idea and the majority said the number plates wouldn’t have the effect of making them any more likely to switch to an electric vehicle.”

He added: “Other incentives, such as cheaper parking, will help, but reinstating the grant for hybrids would also encourage those not ready to go for the full EV.”

Meanwhile, Friends of the Earth campaigner Jenny Bates told the BBC that a national scrappage scheme was needed to help buyers “fund a switch to a cleaner vehicle or greener transport alternative”.