Climate Change Committee assesses the impact of the Government's changes to its EV sales targets: comment

“Analysis shows PHEVs [2] burn 350% more fuel than their manufacturers claim. [3] This is why the UK’s best-selling PHEVs offer their owners savings of just £117 a year over their petrol equivalents – whereas an equivalent EV offers savings of over £1000 a year. [4]

“The Government’s changes to the mandate risk encouraging manufacturers to try to sell more hybrids leaving British drivers and families paying more to drive. There is real jeopardy for the UK car industry of getting left behind, given ever increasing global EV sales, putting jobs and factories at risk.”

A recent report by CBI Economics [5], commissioned by the ECIU, revealed that a failure by the car industry to make the transition to manufacturing EVs could see its contributions to the UK economy fall by as much as 73%, or £34.1bn, and over 400,000 jobs could be lost. Conversely, economic output could increase by over £16bn, and 167,000 new jobs could be created, if a rapid and successful transition takes place. Government support is critical in avoiding such an outcome, and this includes the provision of a stable and supportive regulatory environment through keeping measures like the ZEV Mandate in place.