Goodwood: Owner says electric vehicle target 'difficult' to reach

Charles Gordon-Lennox, the Duke of Richmond, who owns the site, expressed his concerns over the target to transition to electric cars as he launched the venue’s 2023 motorsport calendar.

He questioned whether it would be possible to have the infrastructure in place to reach the goal by the end of the decade.

The Duke of Richmond said he remains unconvinced about electric cars (Image: PA)

The duke said: “Can we deliver enough clean energy to fire up all these cars by that time?

“Can we begin to deliver the infrastructure needed to keep them all powered up?

“That looks difficult to me. There’s so little support for it at the moment.”

The government will ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2030, along with the sale of hybrids by 2035.

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The duke, whose grandfather opened the Goodwood Circuit in 1948, also raised concern at the level of support for the UK motor industry by the government.

“It’s such an important industry but the writing’s on the wall - these great brands are slowly going to be producing their cars elsewhere.

“Car manufacturers will still be making cars and we’ll still be buying them, but sadly they will not be made here anymore because we’re not making it attractive enough.”

Goodwood will celebrate 75 years of motorsport with a range of events this year (Image: Tom Baigent/Goodwood)

Goodwood will mark 75 years of motorsport, with special events planned at this year’s Festival of Speed and Revival.

While the duke said electric cars will play a large part in all of the events, he said he remains unconvinced - despite investing in some electric car companies himself.

He said: “I think mobility is a joy, and a car - the whole opera of that, the whole experience of the thing, is a joy.

“We all know the whole electric vehicle thing is great - it’s super-fast and it’s fun, but they’re all the same.

“It’s going to move you from A to B, but it isn’t the same thing.”

A spokesman for the Department of Transport said the government remains committed to its timeframe for phasing out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars and vans.