T+E Forum 2024: JLR says more carrot and less stick needed on ZEV mandate
Public Affairs Director at Jaguar Land Rover, Murray Paul, told Quentin Willson at the T+E Forum today that the government accepted more carrots were needed in relation to the ZEV mandate.
Speaking about yesterday’s roundtable with the UK Government and vehicle manufacturers as well as ChargeUK, Paul said that “no one in the meeting asked for regulations to change” and that the “challenge was with demand”.
He said that government “accepted” the calls from the motor manufacturers that the stick approach only got you so far, and that the industry “needs carrots as well”.
Paul argued that fleet electrification and incentives were now “saturated”, and that focus should be put on the private buyers, and that “incentives make a difference”.
He referenced the FairCharge campaign on reducing the VAT on public charging and bringing it in line with domestic energy costs, as led by Quentin Willson, as one approach.
But he also said there was an “inescapable conundrum” that electric vehicles were more expensive for the customer, and questioned how the industry could get private buyers “over that hurdle”.
As a result, he said that the company was “disappointed” about the decision regarding freezing fuel duty in the Budget.
Speaking about the issue of charging, he said that charge point operators “can only work with the environment” that they have, and questioned the “perception” issue to overcome the problem about transitioning customers to EVs.
Paul said that private buyers would make purchasing decisions based on the 1% of journeys that they do long-distance, and it was therefore critical to get government to understand the need for over-capacity of charge points. This is because consumers would be concerned if they saw all charge points in use, and vehicles queuing for points, and could therefore be put off from purchasing an EV as a result.
“That trip to Cornwall will be in the back of their heads,” Paul said.
He also spoke at length at the need for battery circularity and ensuring that this remained in the UK. When quizzed by Willson on creating a closed loop and circularity for batteries, he said that “made sense”, and “the more you can use the material already in existence that is a no brainer”. Unlocking the value of battery packs would also help with the insurance issue and residual value of the car, he said.
There was also some discussion on JLR’s rebrand yesterday, which Willson said had “broken the internet”.
Paul said the rebrand was about reaching a newer, younger demographic, which was into arts and music, and trying to dispel the concept of a Jaguar as “your dad’s car”.
“We need to break the mould that it is your dad’s car. There has been a lot of emotion around what we have done. But most of the negative comments have come from those we aren’t considering as future customers anyway. I’m happy to stand by it.”
Speaking about the JLR’s new concept car, due to be released at the start of December, Willson said: “there is more road presence than anything I’ve ever seen before. I was bowled over by it.”
