Bumpyroad ahead in electric car drive

TRAINS and buses may get more column inches, but the North of England is a region that remains dependent on cars to get around.

- ROB PARSONS

With some eight million registered cars and 61.1 billion miles driven annually by cars and taxis on our region's roads, they're used for far more journeys than all forms of public transport combined.

But in six years' time the types of vehicle we buy will change forever as the ban on new cars that run solely on petrol and diesel - dropped by Rishi Sunak and now set to be reinstated by Keir Starmer - comes into force.

It means that in less than six years motorists will have no choice but to buy electric cars, though some hybrid vehicles can still be sold until 2033. Is the North and the country as a whole ready to make the change? A 'state of play' report by experts from Transport for the North (TfN) - set to be published in the coming months - aims to answer that question.