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From today’s Telegraph – quoting the Sunday Times. (Many of us have been saying for some time that it is inevitable that the 2030/35 dates would have to change – maybe this change will be coming even sooner than we thought)
EU car industry successfully lobbies to push back all-electric targets amid mounting backlash.
Labour has been urged to delay a ban on petrol and diesel cars as Brussels reportedly prepares to push back its own deadline by five years.
Ministers have been warned that sticking with the current 2030 ban on the sale of new internal combustion engine vehicles would be disastrous were the EU to extend its deadline to go all-electric to 2040.
The Sunday Times reported that carmakers have had confirmation that the Brussels ban will be pushed back from its current date of 2035, citing Tim Tozer, UK chairman of insurer and roadside assistance firm Allianz Partners, and unnamed executives.
Andy Palmer, the former chief executive of Aston Martin, told the Telegraph a shift in the EU ban to 2040 was “seemingly inevitable” given the strength of lobbying.
Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, has faced pressure from Friedrich Merz, the German Chancellor, and leaders of other countries with large car industries to ease off on the clampdown.
A delay would allow petrol cars to be sold across the EU for 10 years longer than in the UK, creating headaches for manufacturers.
While British plants export three-quarters of their cars, with Europe the biggest market, manufacturers will still be bound to Britain’s strict electric vehicle (EV) targets, suggesting they will have to run twin manufacturing lines to meet demand both at home and abroad.
The US, the second-largest market for British-made vehicles, is also reversing policies that encouraged the switch to electric vehicles.
Brian Gregory, policy director at the Alliance of British Drivers, said an EU rethink could render Labour’s stance on banning sales by the end of the decade fatal for UK production.
He said: “This makes the Government’s stance untenable. We would be destroying our automotive industry and the whole supply chain to no good purpose.
“The UK should step back from the abyss and continue supporting its manufacturers, because if we don’t, we’ll have no car industry left.”
A global survey released by think tank Chatham House on Monday showed that British drivers were among the most reluctant in Europe to buy an EV.
One-third of UK respondents said they were “not interested at all” in EVs, a higher proportion than in the Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Sweden.
Mr Gregory said Labour’s approach of “strong-arming manufacturers into stopping sales of vehicles people clearly want to buy” would also hand control of the UK industry to China, which has a stranglehold on key metallic elements used in battery-electric cars.
He said: “The only people benefiting are the Chinese, who have a monopoly over the rare earths and alkali metals required to produce electric vehicles. If they suddenly decided to turn the tap off, we’d be stuffed. Much better to have a pluralist approach.”
Andrew Griffith, the shadow business secretary, said the Government should accept that net zero targets for the car industry were unworkable.
He said: “For the UK to be a decade ahead of the EU in its eco-zealotry and denial of consumer choice would be complete madness.
“It would be hugely damaging to our own automotive industry. The quicker that Labour rein in Ed Miliband and perform a U-turn on their 2030 engine ban, the better.”
However, Mr Palmer, who is now chairman of battery-technology company Ionetic, said the move would be “a huge mistake” for which European car makers “will pay dearly”.
He said: “You cannot put that genie back in the bottle. Insulating markets either by legislation or tariffs means that, through the laws of Darwinism, the Western manufacturers will not be the fittest and may not survive. China is already technologically years ahead.”
Mr Palmer suggested that Britain should instead seek to woo Chinese investment into the UK. While such a strategy would be a “brave pill”, it would replicate Margaret Thatcher’s embrace of Japanese carmakers while prime minister in the 1980s.
If Britain defers, he warned, countries such as Hungary and Spain will benefit from Chinese investment instead.
Chatham House’s survey showed that 34pc of Britons who would buy an EV would consider a Chinese-made one. This was higher than in most other European countries surveyed except Portugal, Italy and Spain.
Boris Johnson originally announced plans to outlaw the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2030, only for the deadline to be pushed back to 2035 under Rishi Sunak.
On gaining power, Labour moved the target date back to 2030. It is enforced by requiring manufacturers to ensure a certain proportion of sales are EVs, with the level rising annually until the end of the decade. Manufacturers claim the sales targets are too high, with most drivers unenthusiastic about going electric.
Ministers have already watered down the mandate on zero-emission vehicle sales following outreach from industry, allowing the sale of hybrid cars that run on both petrol and battery power to 2035.
In the US, President Donald Trump is reversing pro-EV policies brought in by Joe Biden that he claims have driven up costs and prices while making cars “much worse”.
A UK Government spokesman said: “We remain committed to phasing out all new non-zero emission car and van sales by 2035. More drivers than ever are choosing electric, and November saw another month of increased sales with EVs accounting for one in four cars sold.
“We’re investing over £7.5 billion to support drivers and manufacturers make the switch to zero emission. This includes £4 billion investment to back British manufacturing and R&D, create jobs, and drive growth in the sector.”
“Our Electric Car Grant is making it cheaper than ever to choose an EV, with over 40,000 drivers saving up to £3,750 since launch, backed by an extra £1.3 billion announced at the Autumn Budget.”
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Oh! I thought one might have been sleeping and failed missedmy topic or turned to the other side😂😛 Mind you, what will the others think, two people like you and I making near identical topics ,is sure to garnish a battering of insults😂 but remember my chum, we can always reply “we told you so”😂🤣😂
Anyone who knows me, has read most of my posts know I’m rather pro EV. I like to think that’s rather a pragmatic approach and this fits into that category.
The 3ppm tax, contradicted by enhanced grants, contradicted by government failures on infrastructure and, finally, contradicted by announcements on charging infrastructure funding just goes to show there’s no clear plan from this government (shocker, huh?).
Add in all that’s happening on the continent and there’s no chance any realistic body involved with EVs is holding any hope of a continued plan for 2030.
There’s implications for Net Zero targets and the numerous agreements of the 2050 targets, especially if Reform actually get voted in.
Maybe, just maybe, placing a realistic 2040 target and supporting that with infrastructure and sales targets, will see a concerted effort to make this one happen.
I'm Autistic, if I say something you find offensive, please let me know, I can guarantee it was unintentional.
I'll try to give my honest opinion but am always open to learning.Mark
@kezo I hadn’t realised that you’d made a similar post in the ‘off topic’ section as I hardly ever look over there! Besides, with all the talk about the scheme changes and pence per mile charges, I thought that it was very much ‘on topic’ for the main forum. I agree with you that, if this change across the EU is confirmed (which follows the US doing similar) it will be fascinating to see what our government does. The U.K. remaining an outlier will be counter to the governments stated (but not delivered) aim of prioritising growth. The current U.K. policy isn’t pushing enough people into EVs, it’s just causing the overall car industry (and therefore economy) to suffer, with new car sales being much less now than they were pre-pandemic. 2040 is far more sensible, but should just be an aim, not an enforced target. An incoming Reform UK government, or Reform / Conservative coalition, would scrap the targets completely, so that might make a stubborn Labour government hold out for longer, but with the ZEV mandates already looking unachievable, even before the impact of the budget has washed through, as each year goes on, and the shortfall gets bigger and bigger, the policy will look increasingly daft.
@MFillingham All good reasons why 2030/35 isn’t sustainable, but you forgot the biggest one – Lack of demand! Even now, with ZEV mandates having been live for a few years, we still have a situation where only 1 in 4 new cars being sold is an EV. Put another way, 3 out of 4 are not! In total, only 5% (or 1 in 20) of the cars on our roads at present is an EV. I’ve seen a few polls that suggest that up to 40% of consumers have no intention of getting an EV, which chimes with some industry experts saying that they doubt that EV take up will ever get beyond 50%. Even 50% would be ten times what it is today which, by any measure, is a stretch target!Anyone who knows me, has read most of my posts know I’m rather pro EV. I like to think that’s rather a pragmatic approach and this fits into that category.
I respect that and think we should respect each others views, but don’t go looking to deep into my above reply because, it was just a wmc moment😀
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