Adrian Fielden-Gray, COO of national EV charging network Be.EV blames the UK Government for the slow sales of electric vehicles.
“This is yet another example of the Government failing to provide enough incentives for EV drivers because the focus is always on car manufacturers but is never about what we can do to make EVs more appealing to consumers,” he said, adding, ” If the Government started introducing incentives to make the switch to EVs the obvious choice, car manufacturers would see their EV sales increase massively, and the question of whether the target should be 2030 or 2035 would become irrelevant.”
Changes to the Zero Emissions Vehicle (ZEV) Mandate announced today by the government “don’t go far enough” to resolve fleet issues with electric vans.
Peter Golding, managing director at the software specialist Fleetcheck, said the government would almost certainly have to make further revisions in the future to create momentum behind van electrification.
“The fundamental issues that fleets tell us they are facing when it comes to electric van adoption are that the available vehicles are too expensive, don’t have adequate capacity for their needs, and lack sufficient range.”
Anna Krajinska, Director of T&E UK, said, “Weakening the ZEV Mandate over American tariffs is baffling, especially when most of our car exports to the US are still petrol and diesel.
“Rolling back EV targets won’t protect those exports or jobs. What the sector really needs is regulatory certainty and a robust industrial strategy to support domestic manufacturing and stay competitive as the world goes electric.”
There has been a “cautious” welcome for the government revisions to the Zero Emissions Vehicle Mandate from the Vehicle Remarketing Association – but more help will be needed.
Philip Nothard, chair at the VRA, said, “The good news is that the government has listened and made material changes. There has been a general recognition that existing targets were proving unrealistic and a relaxation was needed that accounted for real world market conditions.
“Moves such as allowing hybrid cars and diesel vans to stay on sale until 2035 will provide a degree of breathing space for manufacturers, as will the greater flexibility around production caps and car and van credits. Notably, it does feel as though the particular difficulties the new electric van market is facing have been recognised. Overall, we’re giving these moves a cautious welcome.”
A programme in conjunction with Toyota helping organisations across Wales deliver productivity improvements and reduce waste has seen a number of major companies report savings of £1m each.
The Toyota Lean Clusters Programme offers world class assistance to businesses in Wales that want to make sustainable improvements in competitiveness and works to embed the principles of Toyota’s production philosophy, regarded as a benchmark for manufacturing efficiency best practice world-wide, to optimise business operations.
