UK vies with Germany to be European EV champion

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Britain is battling Germany to become Europe’s biggest market for electric cars in 2024, after carmakers spent around £4.5 billion on rebates to shift away from internal combustion vehicles.

Electric cars made up 19.6 per cent of new cars sold in the UK last year, according to the Motor Manufacturers and Traders. This is higher than the 16.5 per cent seen in 2023, but still well below the UK requirement. 22 percent of the target. electric car quota scheme.

Total number of electric vehicles sold Great Britain rose 21 percent to a record 382,000 in the January-November period.Electricity sales in Germany fell 26 percent last year after subsidy cuts.The annual sales figure is due later this month.

“We’ll be fighting for first place,” said SMMT boss Mike Hawes. “It’s going to be a touch and go between the two markets.”

Electric’s share of UK sales reached 31 per cent in December, an often quiet month for car deals where last-minute deliveries of EVs can inflate their market position.

Despite strong sales growth, Hawes warned that retail demand for EVs remains sluggish, with only one in 10 private consumers opting for an electric model, prompting many carmakers to offer incentives to persuade consumers to buy EVs as they seek to meet the government’s ” the zero-emission car mandate”.

The current scheme requires a certain percentage of each carmaker’s annual sales to be zero-emission vehicles, with the percentage rising annually from 22 per cent in 2024 to 80 per cent in 2030. Companies face a £15,000 fine for each gap for an abandoned car.

“I would like to say very positively that this was a record year for zero-emission vehicle sales. But when you set a target and you don’t achieve it, it’s seen as a failure,” Hawes said.

While the SMMT estimated carmakers would have to spend £1.8 billion to buy credits to avoid last year’s fines, the Department for Transport said it was “confident” the flexibility of the current scheme meant none of them there will be no financial penalties. 2024 year.

The ZEV mandate, drawn up by the previous Conservative government when sales were expected to rise sharply, has drawn considerable criticism from the industry, which has warned that pushing ahead too quickly will cost jobs.

Labor ministers are now discussing loosening the rules to make it easier for carmakers to meet the targets, and last month: consultation started on the scheme.

The consultation will consider which hybrid cars can be sold alongside the zero-emission models between 2030 and 2035, as well as expanding a scheme where carmakers can buy credits from rivals to meet the targets.

Even automakers that are on track to meet the targets warn that more incentives are needed to help the industry meet ever-increasing targets over the course of the decade.

Although anyone who buys an EV through the company’s car scheme can get generous tax treatment, key incentives for consumer purchases were cut several years ago, which carmakers say has made it harder to sell models that are often still more expensive. than gasoline equivalents.

Kia, which is on track to hit its 2024 and 2025 targets, has warned it may need more help later.

“Going from 33 per cent in 2026 to 80 per cent in 2030 is a big leap,” UK chief Paul Philpott said.

The brand, a subsidiary of South Korea’s Hyundai Motor, reported record sales driven by demand for its hybrids as well as all-electric models.

“Motivation right now will act as a really positive catalyst to build that momentum faster and make it easier to reach the goal in the years to come.”

The DfT said it had “invested more than £2.3 billion to support industry and consumers to make the switch, rolled out more than 72,000 public chargers and launched a consultation to invite the industry to shape how we achieve ZEV to the passage of “.