EV targets risk destroying the UK’s car industry for good

There are two Government policies that are wreaking havoc in the motor sector; the ZEV Mandate (Zero Emissions Vehicle) and the ICE ban, (Internal Combustion Engine) which Labour has changed from 2035 to 2030.

The ZEV Mandate imposes £15,000 fines on manufacturers for every petrol, hybrid or diesel car they sell above a set quota each year. This year it is 78% of total sales, but it falls quickly to only 20% of sales in five years. Manufacturers in Britain are exasperated, because the EU and Joe Biden’s America have a timeline which imposes similar policies over five more years, ending in 2035. Britain is out of step and as a result workers from manufacturers to salespeople are losing their jobs.

The public support electric cars, I have one, but the Government’s dogmatic determination to be the first to ban ICE cars turns the attention of global manufacturers to the UK when it comes to cuts. We saw the economic result of Labour policy recently with news that Vauxhall is closing its Luton plant, the job losses at Ford, and Nissan warning about the “viability of thousands of jobs”.

Ministers have been caught in the headlights of their own policy. They inherited two incompatible policies from Rishi Sunak – the extension of the ICE ban to 2035 and the ZEV Mandate. Labour doubled down on the wrong policy; instead of smoothing the ZEV mandate over 10 years, they reversed Sunak’s 2035 policy and brought it closer.

The auto-sector employs over 1 million people. Half of this is in manufacturing, the rest is in the sales, service and supply chain. My own firm leads the sector in the number of electric vehicles it sells but it is still nowhere near the Government’s arbitrary targets. Ministers have only talked to manufacturers and have spurned all my requests for a meeting to explain the consequences for your neighbourhood car dealer. We have petrol cars in compounds which have been sold to customers, but the keys cannot be handed over because manufacturers, understandably, want to avoid fines at the end of this year. Christmas is coming and there will be thousands of car customers of different dealerships around the UK who cannot take delivery of their cars because they are being held over until January and the new ‘quota year’. It’s rationing by the back door.

When the supply of petrol and diesel cars gets smaller, prices for them will rise. Eventually a new, privately owned car may become the preserve of the rich and the middle class.

It is time to change lanes on automotive policy. At the very least, on this policy, we should align with the EU. I would say that we should let the market decide based on customers’ preferences, so when cheap electric vehicles are available and charging challenges have been sorted, the consumer will buy them en-masse. This will be the policy in the US. Even Elon Musk agrees, and he is the world’s largest producer of electric cars.

Ministers need to apply the brakes and U-turn before they run out of road and destroy the UK’s car industry for good.

Robert Forrester is CEO of Vertu Motors PLC, the fourth largest automotive retailer in the UK, with a network of 202 sales outlets. Its dealerships operate predominantly under the Bristol Street Motors, Vertu, and Macklin Motors brand names. The group retails cars in every part of the market, from mainstream models to exotics, while employing more than 8,000 staff across the UK. Forrester writes here, exclusively for Auto Express.

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