In January, Transport + Energy released its Delivery Plan for the sectors, including critical insight into how the industry is preparing for decarbonisation goals.
There have been reports over the weekend have suggested that a “substantial change of policy” has been agreed by the UK Government on the ZEV Mandate, following comments from Nissan about its Sunderland plant being at risk.
As part of the Plan, vehicle manufacturers and the wider industry called on the UK Government to use more incentives or “carrots” in delivering electric vehicle targets, and not to solely rely on “sticks” in the transition to net zero.
The Forum came at a critical moment for vehicle manufacturers and the charging industry, as it took place only 24 hours after the critical roundtable meeting with the government on the ZEV Mandate, and ahead of the consultation on the issue, which has recently concluded.
It was argued at the Forum that the government accepted more “carrots” were needed in relation to the ZEV Mandate. This has been a point that was reflected by multiple private and public sector organisations.
Although it was stated that there was no-one asking for regulations to change, there was commentary about a challenge with demand.
Manufacturers said that fleet electrification and incentives were now saturated, and that focus should be put on the private buyers, and that incentives make a difference.
One consistent message raised was the FairCharge campaign on reducing VAT on public charging to 5%, which would bring it in line with domestic energy costs.
But it was also stated 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, the government needed to do more to incentivise private customers.
You can read the whole Transport + Energy Delivery Plan here.
