Opening the Transport + Energy Forum 2025, chief executive of EVA England, Vicky Edmonds spoke to ‘godfather of EVs’ Andy Palmer about the transition to electric vehicles, with both calling for certainty from the UK Government.
Palmer, who launched the Nissan Leaf as well as senior roles at Aston Martin and PodPoint, said that “we are not going to mandate EVs on people, you have to have a push and a pull”, and also highlighted the role of politicians in providing certainty in the transition.
He told Edmonds – who had earlier quoted Taylor Swift and the importance of “being on the right side of history” on EVs – that the cost of an EV needed to be on parity with ICE vehicles, and we were “close to achieving that”, especially if you look at Chinese vehicle manufacturers.
In addition, Palmer said that we needed to “break the monopoly” on how energy was generated and ensure there was decentralisation and democratisation in energy production.
He highlighted one case where he tried to get a battery placed at a site, and was told by the DNO that the grid connection could be done in 2037.
Palmer added that most energy providers should be able to give EV customers around 50 miles of free travel when charging overnight, which, alongside the cost parity with ICE would “lead to a greater uptake” of EVs.
When questioned by Edmonds on Perran Moon’s earlier comments at the Forum about government “getting out of the way”, Palmer was critical of such a response.
“The Government not having a big part in the transition is a cop out. You have to take a Keynesian approach to it,” he said.
“I’m at the end of my tether with politicians. You either need to stand up and be counted, or you will be on the wrong side of history. The simple question is you either believe in it or you don’t.”
Palmer also added he wasn’t wedded to a 2030, 2035 or 2040 date, it was more about creating certainty and stopping the continuous shifting policies.
“Just stick with it,” he said, “governments of both parties have lost the trust of industry. You cannot invest billions of pounds of private sector money when the goal posts keep changing. The problem is around consistency.”
Having said that, when quizzed by Edmonds on the recent speculation on EVs potentially being taxed on a ‘pay-per-mile’ model, Palmer added that he didn’t “intrinsically have a problem” with taxing EVs, but just “not now”.
“There is a time and a place to tax EVs, but it ain’t now,” he added.
When Edmonds asked him about his “one big wish”, Palmer spoked about his experience with China. He highlighted how as early as 1992, the Chinese government set out a long-term plan to be a leader in ‘new energy vehicles’, including EVs.
He said: “They had a plan; public and private sector came together. On an industrial strategy, they have a vision. They are on a rapid transition to net zero and creating wealth for their companies in making that happen.
“Just a little bit of that (in the UK) would be nice.”
