The Tories are facing growing calls to support EV sales in the upcoming Budget.

When Rishi Sunak delayed the UK’s ban on new petrol car sales, he was at pains to stress it should be consumers, not the Government, who drive the switch to electric vehicles.

Yet since his remarks, car industry insiders have become increasingly frustrated at what many see as mixed messages emerging from Downing Street. 

Despite pushing back the petrol car ban, the Prime Minister left in place targets that will force manufacturers to rapidly ramp up EV sales anyway from this year. The Telegraph has the story.

“In terms of messaging, it was slightly peculiar,” says Mike Hawes, chief executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). 

It is this confusion that is partly being blamed for the slow-motion car crash now unfolding in EV sales, with industry figures published on Monday showing that their market share slipped from 19.7pc in December to just 14.7pc in January.

That was after annual figures showed the proportion of car sales that were electric slipped from 16.6pc in 2022 to 16.5pc in 2023, the first time the EV segment has gone into reverse. 

The malaise is sending shock waves through the car industry at a time when manufacturers are already grappling with a string of other headaches. 

Among the problems facing carmakers include poor charging infrastructure and high interest rates, which have pushed up the cost of financing deals. 

A House of Lords report released on Tuesday urges ministers to grab the wheel and swerve to avert disaster.

“If we’re going to get to net zero in 2050, we’ve got to address surface transport, because that accounts for 23pc of our emissions,” says Baroness Parminter, chairman of the environment and climate change committee. 

“And if the Government is serious about meeting its targets, then it needs to use all the levers at its disposal.

“The message the public got from the delay in the [petrol car] ban was ‘This is not something that we need to worry about now’.”

Sunak’s net zero speech emphasised the high upfront cost of EVs, but ministers have done little to address the issue since then. 

Manufacturers argue the Prime Minister has in fact made things worse by withdrawing benefits for EV drivers.

The “plug in grant” for EVs previously allowed drivers to knock £2,500 off the price of their purchase but was withdrawn in June 2022, for example, while from March 2025 EV drivers will lose their current exemption from paying vehicle excise duty (more commonly known as road tax). 

At the same time, the Government is tightening the screws on car manufacturers through the so-called Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate.

This requires 22pc of new cars sold this year to be ZEVs, rising to 28pc in 2025, 52pc in 2028 and 80pc by 2030. Manufacturers who fail to meet the targets must pay fines or cover shortfalls through an emissions trading scheme.

Hawes, at the SMMT, says this mixed bag of policies is stimulating supply while doing too little to boost demand. 

“We’re moving from the early adopter phase to the mass market phase,” he says, “and if you are to achieve net zero, this must be a mass market technology. It can’t just be for those who are most keen. 

“So the decision to turn off the incentives does look like it was taken too early.”

Other issues that have plagued EVs include a rapid fall in values and huge insurance premiums, pushing up running costs for drivers. 

Read the full story here.