Electric Vehicle Report - September 2020

September 15 2020

Global warming has resulted in the UK Government putting in place many policies including the 2018 document “The Road to Zero”. The “Road to Zero” highlights the “integrated Industrial Strategy, designed to help build a high-growth, high productivity, green economy across the UK – an economy fit for the 21st century” (UK Government, 2018:Online). As part of their plan, the government aims to ban the sale of new petrol and diesel cars in 2040 (Schwanen, 2019).

Since 2011 the government has enticed consumers to purchase electric vehicle with grants. The most recent scheme was announced by the UK Government in March 2020. Now zero-emission vehicle priced below £50,000 will be eligible to receive a grant of up to £3,000 (Gov.UK, 2020). The government announced at the time that they would be putting £403 million towards the plug-in vehiclegrant and extending it to 2022-23. The grant used to be £5,000 when it first started in 2011 and whenever the government revised the grant goes down, so don’t miss your opportunity to get a large amount of money off your new vehicle!

Electric vehicles are a key technology to reduce air pollution and a promising option to contribute to energy diversification and greenhouse gas emissions reduction objectives.

Benefits of electric vehicles include:

1. Zero tailpipe emissions

2. Better efficiency than internal combustion engine vehicles

3. Large potential for global greenhouse gas emissions reductions

4. Government grants and low tax options

5. Over 25,000 charging points in the UK

6. On average it costs about £8.40 for a full charge and that gives you about 200 miles of range

Before the COVID-19 pandemic shook up the automotive industry, the electric vehicles were moving steadily into the spotlight (Woodward et al, 2020). This is highlighted by electric vehicles sales reaching 2.1 million in 2019 (Woodward et al, 2020). There are now around 7.2 million electric vehicles on the road, which compared to 2010 when there were only 17000 electric vehicles, is a huge increase (IEA, 2020). The 2.1 million electric vehicle sales in 2019 represent a 6% growth from the previous year (IEA, 2020). By 2025, EVs are estimated to hit 10% of global passenger vehicle sales, rising to 28% in 2030 and 58% in 2040 (BloombergNEF, 2020). Globally, the number of publicly accessible chargers (slow and fast) increased by 60% in 2019 compared with the previous year (IEA, 2020). In the UK there are now over 4,700 public fast chargers and over 22,000 public slow chargers (IEA, 2020).

Here at LSH Auto all of our new Smart Cars are fully electric and Mercedes currently have the EQC. However, Daimler (Unknown) has announced that by 2022 Mercedes-Benz will be bringing more than ten different all-electric vehicles to market (Daimler, Unknown).

So keep an eye out for our announcements and if you are interested in purchasing an electric vehicle call us on 0330 404 6272 or email internet.enquiries@lshauto.co.uk.

Electric Vehicles

References

BloombergNEF, (2020). Electric Vehicle Outlook 2020. BloombergNEF Website. (Online). https://about.bnef.com/electric-vehicle-outlook. [Assessed on 15/09/20].

Daimler, (Unknown).Plans for more than ten different all-electric vehicles by 2022: All systems are go. Daimler Website. (Online). https://media.daimler.com/marsMediaSite/ko/en/29779739[Assessed on 15/09/20].

Gov.UK, (2020). Update on plug-in vehicle grants following today’s budget. Gov.UK Website. 11/03/20. (Online). https://www.gov.uk/government/news/plug-in-vehicle-grants-update-following-todays-budget#:~:text=Starting%20Thursday%2012%20March%20(2020,making%20the%20switch%20for%20longer. [Assessed on 15/09/20].

IDA, (2020). Global EV Outlook 2020, Technology report — June 2020. (Online). https://www.iea.org/reports/global-ev-outlook-2020. [Assessed on 15/09/20].

Sregantan. N, (2018). Not plugged in?: Why we are so slow to adopt electric cars, and what lies ahead. Business Times. 22/12/18. (Online) https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/brunch/not-plugged-in-why-we-are-so-slow-to-adopt-electric-cars-and-what-lies-ahead [Assessed on 15/09/20]

UK Government, (2018). The Road to Zero: Next steps towards cleaner road transport and delivering our Industrial Strategy – July 2018. Department of Transport. (Online). https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/739460/road-to-zero.pdf [Assessed on 15/09/20].

Woodward, M. Hamilton, J. Walton, B. Fullerton-Smith, S. Day, E. and Ringrow. J, (2020). Electric Vehicles. 28/07/20. Deloitte Website. (Online). https://www2.deloitte.com/uk/en/insights/focus/future-of-mobility/electric-vehicle-trends-2030.html. [Assessed on 15/09/20].