Electric car rollout could fail without incentives amid fears net zero goals will be missed
Experts have warned that major changes are needed to ensure the UK adopts more electric vehicles amid a recent slump in registrations of new EVs.
The latest data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) found that while new car registrations grew for the 21st consecutive month, electric vehicles remain a stumbling block.
Fewer than one in six new battery electric vehicles purchased in April was from a private buyer, with volumes falling by -21.9 per cent.
Even the number of private buyers of new cars fell by -17.7 per cent, while the majority of growth was driven by fleets and businesses.
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Experts are calling for more electric vehicle charging stations
PA
There are now more than 100 battery electric vehicles on the UK market, many of which are now seeing upfront prices falling in a bid to entice drivers to purchase them.
Mike Hawes, chief executive of the SMMT, has continually urged the Government to introduce changes to help motorists switch to electric vehicles and avoid buying new petrol and diesel cars.
He suggested that this could be done with tax incentives, the return of a grant-based system or a VAT cut from 20 per cent to five per cent on public charging devices.
There are also fears that major car brands are being forced to modify their sales forecasts amid the hesitation to invest in electric.
The Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate was introduced at the beginning of this year and ensures that manufacturers have a minimum percentage of sales of electric cars to accelerate the switch to cleaner vehicles.
Targets are already in place this year, meaning brands will need to have 22 per cent of sales be electric, rising to 80 per cent by the end of the decade and 100 per cent by 2035.
This will coincide with the 2035 deadline to end the sale of new vehicles with internal combustion engines in one of the biggest moves to slash emissions ahead of the Government’s 2050 net zero target.
Alex Thwaites, Director of EV at OVO, commented on the new data, saying that new measures were required to help the UK meet tough environmental goals and get motorists to transition to EVs.
He said: “[The] stats show EV growth is being driven by businesses – with consumer uptake down by more than 20 per cent – but we know from our customers the appetite to switch is there.
“Drivers tell us they would love to go electric but the main barriers are either vehicle costs, range anxiety or there not being enough public charge points in place.
“We’re doing our bit to both ease driver concerns and make it cheaper to buy and run an EV, but we also need the Government to turbocharge the charge point rollout and provide more incentives to get our electric journey back on the road.”
The SMMT has estimated that halving VAT on purchases of new battery electric cars would help more than a quarter of a million drivers switch to EVs over the next three years.
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New car registrations grew for the 21st consecutive month
PA
The latest research from Zapmap revealed that there are 61,232 charging devices across almost 32,700 locations around the UK.
This included more than 1,640 being added to the Zapmap database in the last month, with forecasts showing that the 100,000th EV charging device should be installed in the summer of next year.
