Drivers 'need incentives' to embrace electric car switch or UK may face 'negative impacts'
The Plug-in Car Grant was removed in June 2022
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One expert is calling on the Government to potentially reintroduce grants to help motorists buy electric cars and ditch older, more polluting vehicles.
The Government shocked many when it rolled back the Plug-in Car Grant in June 2022 when it diverted funds to support the uptake of vans, taxis and motorcycles.
This provided motorists around the UK with a grant of up to £1,500 of the market price of a new electric vehicle under the cost of £32,000.
Michael Dean, Senior Autos Analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence, indicated how without incentives for drivers to help drivers switch, EV sales could fall.
The sale of new petrol and diesel cars will be banned from 2030
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Speaking to GB News, he said: “We need Government incentives to increase investment in chargers and simplify the planning process to allow more installations.
“We have seen in other countries that when BEV incentives and subsidies have been withdrawn, it has only had a short-term negative impact on BEV demand.”
He highlighted how this had already been the case in China and Germany and was now evident in the UK.
China recently unveiled a £57billion package of tax breaks for electric cars over the next four years in a bid to get more drivers behind the wheel of an EV.
Michael Dean continued, saying: “It’s also worth noting that about 50 per cent of the UK auto market is corporate sales and there remains significant tax benefits for companies and employees to buy a BEV and that hasn't changed.
“That’s also why the BEV sales mix for corporate customers is about 30 per cent in the UK vs only 10 per cent for private buyers.”
One popular car brand, Fiat, has launched its own incentive to get drivers to invest in an electric car.
The Fiat E-Grant is available for all drivers and is worth £3,000 to put towards the cost of a Fiat 500e and 500e Convertible.
The Italian brand also wrote to the UK Government, calling on it to help incentivise motorists to buy an electric vehicle.
It highlighted how a number of European countries were continuing to offer incentives to drivers, with Germany and Spain offering discounts of up to €9,000 or £7,700.
Commenting on the decision to introduce an incentive, Damien Dally, managing director at Fiat UK, said there was “no doubt” that the Plug-in Car Grant had been responsible in supporting the uptake of EVs.
He added: “With the cost-of-living crisis and rising cost of electric vehicles, coupled with our net zero climate targets, we believe more needs to be done to incentivise individuals to be able to afford to make the switch.
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A number of European countries still have EV grants
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“That’s why we’ve taken it upon ourselves to launch the Fiat E-Grant, a £3,000 incentive towards the 500e and 500e Convertible.”