UK government implies current EV grant will be culled
You’d better hurry up
Story byIoanna Lykiardopoulou
Ioanna is a writer at TNW. She covers the full spectrum of the European tech ecosystem, with a particular interest in startups, sustainabili(show all)Ioanna is a writer at TNW. She covers the full spectrum of the European tech ecosystem, with a particular interest in startups, sustainability, green tech, AI, and EU policy. With a background in the humanities, she has a soft spot for social impact-enabling technologies.
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Supporting the cut
She explained that the reduced EV grant is now targeting “lower-priced vehicles” because “that’s where people are less likely to be able to fund the cost out of their own pocket entirely.”
Well, that’s not really unfair, given that the cutis mainly going to affect people who already have quite a bit of money to spend on a car. And there are still27 eligible electric models, such as the more affordable Renault Zoe, and even the BMW i3 series.
Recalling the grant
Regarding the grant’s potential slash, Maclean told Autocar that “it’s right to keep on looking at that [the future of the scheme], because ultimately we need to make sure we’re not using government money to help people buy cars who could have afforded them anyway.”
“One of our concerns is to make this an equitable transition for everyone, and of course at the moment electric cars are a bit more expensive — although if you factor in the overall cost of ownership, they will be on a parity soon.”
Interestingly, the intention to recall the grant had been already announced in the government’sRoad to Zeroplan, back in 2018.
Implementing other measures
In the interview, Maclean also suggested that hydrogen and synthetic e-fuels will also play a role in decarbonizing transport, but this will not include passenger cars.
Instead, the focus will be on heavy goods vehicles (HGVs), airplanes, and ships.
As a matter of fact, these statements seem to correspond with the government’s “greenprint” to decarbonize all modes of domestic transport by 2050, published just a week ago.
What to keep in mind
As EVs become the norm, we shouldn’t be too surprised by the potential removal of subsidies. After all, such incentives were designed to encouragepeople to make the switch from combustion to electricity by trying to balance the price disparity between the two types of vehicles.
This means that we can eventually expect governments around the world to lift their EV grants and to even impose other related taxes,as fuel duty will gradually disappear and they’ll have to fill the financial gap.
But seeing that EVs aren’t the norm yet, and it’ll be some more years before they’re dominant, withdrawing financial incentives too soon may hinder the sought-after transition.
Do EVs excite your electrons? Do ebikes get your wheels spinning? Do self-driving cars get you all charged up?
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