‘Britain must keep its foot on the EV accelerator’

Over the weekend, Kemi Badenoch announced that the Conservative Party would scrap  the UK’s zero emission vehicle (ZEV) mandate (introduced by Rishi Sunak’s government  in 2024 while Kemi Badenoch was the Business Secretary) and our 2030 ban on petrol and diesel cars. 

Trashing one’s own record in government is bad politics. Hitting the brakes on the UK’s EV transition is bad policy.

The Conservatives seem happy to risk Britain’s leading role in the transition of our transport system away from polluting fossil fuels; Labour should not. This is a lesson I fear our friends across the Channel are about to learn with intense industrial lobbying expected to result in a weakening of its own combustion engine ban. 

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Industrial transitions are always difficult, and the transition to electric vehicles is no exception. But as Harold Wilson reminded us fifty years ago in his ever prescient speech  on the “white heat of the technological revolution”, during these times of change, governments have two choices. Either to embrace the reality of technological change  and to work constructively with industry and workers to ensure that it delivers in the interests of the British economy and its workforce; or to stick their heads in their sand  and to watch as British industry becomes a “stagnant backwater” unable to compete in the global economy. 

As always, stasis is a recipe for decline.

Analysis by CBI Economics found that failure by the car industry to make the transition to manufacturing EVs knocked £34.1 billion off the industry’s economic output and cost over 400,000 jobs. However, a successful  transition could conversely increase economic output by over £16 billion and create 167,000 new jobs. While some laggards in Europe believe slowing down might help protect incumbent car makers, the global transition continues to accelerate. Make no mistake, China shows no sign of slowing down. Either we keep up, or we fall by the  wayside and allow Chinese firms to take control of the European market in the same way that they have done in other sectors.

Of course, the automotive sector and the hundreds of thousands of workers who depend upon its continued success don’t need to navigate this transition on their own. In power, Labour is showing that the mistakes of the past – and most especially of the transition  away from coal, which saw coalfield communities across the UK abandoned by Conservative governments – don’t need to be repeated. We’re helping deliver on our mission for growth with a renewed and more proactive relationship between industry and government, underpinned by a modern industrial strategy, and working with the automotive sector to guarantee the regulatory certainty and long-term stability manufacturers need.

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Far from being a cliff-edge, the ZEV mandate and 2030 ban on petrol and diesel cars provides the sector with a clear sense of direction while also providing the flexibility for manufacturers to meet targets in their own way.  

Critically, the ZEV mandate is working. Sales are increasing, with more-and-more people making the transition to cheaper, cleaner electric driving. Defying the naysayers, some manufacturers are rising to meet the challenge of the EV transition, supported by steps this Labour government is taking to encourage demand, including introducing a new electric car grant; helping consumers with the upfront costs of a new EV purchase; and supporting the charging industry to accelerate roll out of public access infrastructure.

This is what a just transition in action looks like and it’s already paying dividends. Of the  world’s 10 largest car markets, the UK is second only to China when it comes to the percentage of new cars sold that are EVs. EV sales accounted for more than one in four cars sold in November, while sales of petrol and diesel cars continue to decline.

Rather than trying to distance herself from the ZEV mandate, to which she agreed in Cabinet, the leader of the opposition should be claiming credit for her party’s role in turbocharging the UK’s position as a global leader in the EV transition; a transition that is shaping up to be a great British success story.  

Despite supporting the UK’s exit from the EU, Kemi Badenoch is now saying that Britain  has no choice but to follow Brussels in its expected decision to water down its ban on new petrol and diesel sales. The alternative, she warns us without a hint of irony, is that Britain will be left isolated on the world stage.

But I believe that this an opportunity to  demonstrate that Britain can do things differently, reflecting the distinct character of the British automotive sector. This includes the fact that it’s an overwhelmingly export-orientated industry, with 8 out of 10 British-made cars being exported, primarily to markets where demand for EVs continues to rise.

Carmakers in Italy and Germany may be spending this Christmas season toasting their success in derailing the EU’s plans to phase out the sale of new petrol and diesel cars.  But in ten years’ time, these same manufacturers could be bemoaning the fact they’ve been left behind the competition in this global transition.

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Meanwhile, a thriving UK automotive sector could be out in front, producing EVs powered by British made  batteries and Cornish lithium, in factories that continue to employ hundreds of thousands of people across the country. Leaving us with plenty of reasons to be grateful  for having kept our nerve and our foot firmly on the EV accelerator. 

While the EU gets the jitters and the Conservatives seek to jump on a bandwagon, Britain should stay the course and continue to lead the transition.

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