UK carmakers urge govt to lure wary consumers into buying EVs

afr.com:

London | Britain’s auto industry has urged the government to dish out tax breaks or other incentives to encourage people buying electric vehicles (EVs), amid fears that consumer enthusiasm is on the wane.

The government will ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars from 2030, but has wound back incentives for buyers – just as motorists have started to fret more about how much EVs cost and whether there is enough charging infrastructure.

British government support will ensure electric Minis are built in Oxford. Bloomberg

Mike Hawes, CEO of the British car industry’s Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders, said EV makers had now made all the early, easier gains, and needed more public support to keep the 2030 target in sight.

“To move to a mass market, we need something more for individual consumers,” he told the SMMT’s annual conference on electric vehicles in London.

“I was never worried about the first 20 per cent. I’m worried about more about the last 20 per cent of that market shift.”

Mr Hawes said much of the EV sector’s inroads into the market had come from purchases by fleet managers and businesses, where the incentives were stronger.

“Private consumers used to have about a third of total sales, it’s down to about a quarter now. So we believe every option needs to be considered to help that private consumer transition with targeted support.”

Registrations of new EVs in Britain – Europe’s second-largest market for electric cars – jumped almost 40 per cent in the year to August 31 from the same period a year earlier, SMMT data shows.

In the past five years the market share of battery EVs has jumped from 0.7 per cent to 16.4 per cent. They now outsell every other category of car, such as diesel and the various