I think manufacturers will say enough is enough to the ZEV targets, as many manufacturers are rowing back on their EV rollout timeframe. Renault’s chief executive is the latest motor industry big name to cast doubts on the transition to electric cars in the next decade, warning that sales are not on the ‘right trajectory’ was reported on yesterday. If UK GOV don’t listen, manufacturers manufufacturing EV’s in here, will just take manufacturing away from the UK
Yes, the pushback from manufacturers is definitely starting to happen. The Renault boss is spot on – the trajectory is way off. It’s all very well forcing targets upon manufacturers, but you can’t force consumers to buy cars that they don’t want and aren’t practical for their needs.
The majority of the transition so far has been company car drivers and fleet users, due to the benefit in kind taxation advantages (for the former) and heavy discounts (for the latter), as manufacturers use this market (including Motability) to get their EV numbers up. Private buyers are a completely different animal though. Yes, there are currently savings on road tax (although I’m sure that’s time limited), but no personal tax incentives and, if the customer cannot charge at home, running costs are no cheaper than their ICE car which doesn’t have range issues and only needs a 5 minute refuel every 400-600 miles. I can foresee an awful lot of people driving very very old ICE cars in the 2040’s and 2050’s