Whereas Europe has set a date of 2035 for banning the sale of new ICE vehicles, the new government has set 2030 for the ban.
Whereas the EU allows ICE cars which use e-fuels to be sold after 2035, that is unlikely to be followed here judging by the virtue signalling of our eco-fanatic minister for net zero.
The EV situation is a case of realism meeting idealism. The government is sticking to its 2030 ban despite the fact that there is no apparent plan for permitting people in terraced houses or apartment blocks to be able to charge vehicles from home, no plan to reduce the heavy cost of charging outside the home, no plan for installing a sufficiently comprehensive network of charging stations and no plan to get down the high cost of buying, insuring and repairing EVs.
Now Stellantis and Ford are quoting the UK’s EV regulations as part of the reason for laying off workers at UK vehicle manufacturing sites. “Demand is not there”, says Stellantis’ md.
It is no part of a Labour government’s brief to get workers sacked because of government regulation, but equally it is no part of this Labour government’s brief to give up on its climate change targets.
Watching HMG resolve this dilemma could be entertaining.
