The number of green cars sold in Britain has fallen for the first time in two years after the government cut subsidies.
Last month 13,314 “alternatively fuelled” cars were registered, 12 per cent less than in June 2018. Sales of pure electric cars rose sharply but this was offset by a huge decrease in the number of hybrids, which run on a combination of battery power and a conventional petrol engine.
The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) said that it was the first time since April 2017 that the eco-friendly car sector had seen a decline.
The figures will come as a blow to the government’s ambition to promote clean alternatives to traditional petrol and diesel cars.
Ministers want to end the sale of combustion engine cars by 2040 to improve the quality of roadside air, ensuring that all new vehicles are effectively zero-emission models.
Motor manufactures have criticised the government’s decision to cut a £4,500 grant for those buying plug-in cars, which has already had a major impact on sales. The grant was abolished for plug-in hybrids last November and cut to £3,500 for pure electric cars.
Electric cars cost up to £10,000 more than their petrol or diesel equivalents and the government has acknowledged that the gulf in price is unlikely to close until the mid-2020s at the earliest. Price is often cited by motorists as one of the main reasons against turning to an electric or hybrid model. Concerns have also been raised over the lack of public roadside chargers.
Charles: whilst I have the greatest respect for the GWPF this is hardly surprising. A drop in sales following a reduction in subsidy is to be expected. The same thing happened to Tesla in Q1 this year after their subsidy halved.
I don’t understand all the EV-bashing on here. This is about industrial survival not climate change. In March a US manufacturer, Tesla, sold more cars in Norway than any other manufacturer regardless of propulsion type. The last time a US car topped the sales chart in Norway Pontius was probably using a US car to get to his job as a pilot. BMW are worrying about a US manufacturer, Tesla, eating their lunch. The Chinese are building a lead in this technology that will soon be unassailable if Western manufactures don’t get their fingers out. China are already dominating the electric bus business (Shenzhen had a 100% electric bus fleet in 2016). Chinese NEV sales grew 1.8% in May whilst overall vehicle sales fell according to one source.
Folk need to wake up, smell the coffee and look at the trends. If the West waits until EV sales are big enough to destroy their margins it will be too late
You need to maintain a healthy skepticism with full EVs-
https://www.msn.com/en-au/motoring/news/bmw-isnt-convinced-on-combustion-extinction/ar-AADGrGY
If they’re not to run on Fossil fuel power grids that means lots of lithium batteries going into the grid and there won’t be the supply of raw materials for either. Lithium battery technology is now very mature with economies of scale and yet EVs are clearly the preserve of the wealthy. Hence you can see how dropping UK subsidies sees the cheaper hybrid sales fall while the wealthy demand hasn’t been satisfied yet.
Keep your eye on Australia without EV subsidies and no domestic car industry to protect and the cheapest EVs coming onto the market are over $50k AUD drive away when the median price of used and new cars on popular Carsales online selling tool is only $25k. Get up to $50k and above and you’re talking the top 16% of buyers and EVs don’t have the best selling dual cab utes that business buys in droves and business isn’t sentimental as large buyers. That’s further slashing that 16% market slice with respect to availability of private buyers who would possibly buy an EV.
My guess is EVs will be lucky to reach 2-3% of sales unless a breakthrough occurs with battery prices. A BMW exec claimed recently they can make a whole ICE car for the price of a reasonable battery and retorted ‘never, never, never’ to the question of lithium battery prices coming down. For the average punter the opportunity cost(finance?) of an extra $20-$25k AUD for an EV in Australia blows away any fuel savings. EVs are a pecadillo for the wealthy and the virtue signallers as Tesla well know and are milking it for all it’s worth. Nice cars if you can afford one.
Observa, pigs-in-space. You don’t understand what I am saying. I don’t care a button whether the electricity is generated by coal, treadmills in gyms or burning cow-farts. I’m not interested in “there’s no demand” theories which are a busted flush
Look at the trends.
observa re Australia. Obviously a market happening there too: https://www.carsales.com.au and /cars/nissan/leaf/. According to one website, EV sales in Australia grew 67% year on year between 2017 and 2018
Off what base though and good luck to Elon milking wealthy virtue signallers although his TeslaS is a bloody good drive by all accounts if you want to do your licence with all the speed cams around-
https://www.whichcar.com.au/car-news/how-australia-compares-globally-for-electric-vehicle-sales
The cabbies all use Toyota hybrids naturally after a love affair with local Ford and Holden(GM) big sixes and LPG until the price of LPG rocketted up as backup for solar and wind. Apart from that private purchases of hybrids is really poor even though the payback for city slickers would be only 3 years with average driving.
The BMW exec has it right with costs unless like Norway you introduce subsidies and ICE bans and even then Norwegians have a a big SUV to go with the mandated EV-
https://driving.ca/auto-news/news/motor-mouth-the-inconvenient-truth-about-china-and-norways-ev-subsidies
Get this in proportion mate!
China has a population of 1.6 billion.
I don’t really give a toss about China and their so called “domination”.
We already have their diesel powered buses all over Eastern Europe already.
So what? They are cheap and can be thrown away when worn out.
What population does Norway have? Does it have a vast farm network?
“China are already dominating the electric bus business (Shenzhen had a 100% electric bus fleet in 2016)?
FYI the Chinese electric buses are powered by COAL FIRED power stations.
Get it?
I have been there, seen them watched it.
All electricity for recharging in China is subsidised off peak, asked about it, seen it.
Zilch is eco-friendly anything at all, then they export them (dump them on the world market) and fill ships with heavy OIL to transport them around the world.
Better know what you want!
Do electric cars pollute more than gasoline?
https://www.google.com/search?q=electric+car+battery+emissions&oq=battery+emissions+electrical+car&aqs=chrome.
The actual preference of hybrid technology: for longer downhill driving no braking power is needed, brake discs are not worn, no energy is converted into heated brake discs.
The disadvantage of course: double drive technology means 2 motors, 2 output shafts + snchronization, additional space requirements, increased maintenance and repair needs …