“There isn’t a strategy, let’s be honest…” Fiat’s European boss Gaetano Thorel was in fascinating and lively form at a dinner on Monday night and delivered a comment on the UK government that inadvertently could be applied to the dominant topic of automotive industry news in the days that followed.
While his words were specifically in regards to the UK’s sudden removal of grants/subsidies for buyers of electric cars last year, they could be applied to the government’s strategy on EVs as a whole: there isn’t one.
This column is not alone in frequently moving the palm towards the forehead wondering just how the government plans to support the industry in not only the sale of electric cars but the manufacturer of them, too. The rules here on the banning of the sale of non-electric cars are stricter (from 2030) than in the EU (2035) but our plans on how to manage that transition far less progressed.
The latest blue touch paper has been lit by the looming ‘rules of origin’ that state 40% of the value of an electric vehicle needs to originate in the UK or EU to remain tariff free for export, rising to 45% next year (when 60% of the battery pack will need to come from the UK or EU) and 55% in 2027 – when packs will also effectively have to come from the UK or EU given the value threshold will rise to 70% for that at the same time.
The rise in the costs of materials and energy make this unachievable, says Stellantis, who on Tuesday asked the government to maintain the status quo until 2027.
Even this has an element of kicking the can down the road and pushing the cliff edge back, given the government’s track record in expedient and decisive decision making in the automotive industry.
Add your comment