According to Reuters, on October 4, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) warned that the UK electric vehicle market may not be able to achieve its expected targets under the Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) regulations by 2024 and called on the New Labour government to introduce incentives to encourage private consumers to accelerate their shift to electric vehicles.
The above is reportedly from an open letter to Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, which was signed by several automakers and SMMT CEO Mike Hawes, who reiterated his call for (the UK government) to halve the tax on new EV purchases by private consumers over three years, and to reduce VAT on public charging services.
Under the ZEV regulations introduced by the former Conservative government in the UK, at least 22% of new cars sold by automakers will be purely electric by 2024. The aforementioned open letter, however, notes that “at an industry level, we may not be able to meet these targets, with a large number of brands either having to buy credits from another company or pay significant compliance fees.”
Just earlier this week, Ford UK executive Lisa Brankin had called on the UK government to reintroduce subsidies to help automakers meet sales targets for electric vehicles, which consumers are currently reluctant to buy. In June, Stellantis threatened to stop producing cars in the UK unless the UK government relaxed its EV sales targets.
According to the latest figures released by the SMMT, new car registrations in the UK rose by 1.1% year-on-year in September, with registrations of purely electric vehicles setting a new record for the period.Hawes noted, “The record high number of EV registrations in September is indeed good news, but there are serious concerns that the market isn’t growing fast enough to meet the required targets. ” Previously, several global automakers have lowered their production targets for electric vehicles due to slowing demand.