The United Kingdom has a plan to boost the electric car: copy China and set sales quotas
It has only been a few days since the UK Government decided to delay the ban on the sale of vehicles with combustion engines to 2035. The previous date (2030) will no longer be effective . But, nevertheless, they have an ace up their sleeve: forcing manufacturers to sell more and more electric cars.
The push will come with the simple obligation to maintain a minimum sales quota in the electric car territory. That is, a percentage of the total volume of electric cars that a manufacturer sells in the United Kingdom will have to be electric vehicles or plug-in hybrids. A measure similar to that used by the Chinese Government .
Either you sell electric cars… or you go to checkout
Just a few days ago we said that the electric car had broken another milestone . In Europe, 21% of cars sold in August were completely electric. According to ACEA , the sum of electric and plug-in hybrids grew to 28.4%. It must be remembered that the gasoline vehicle without any type of electrification is 32.7% and the diesel has fallen to 12.5%.
For brands that cannot meet the demands, there are two options. The first, obvious, is to assume a fine that, according to the English media, will be up to 150,000 pounds per vehicle sold . The other possibility is to buy “credits” from other firms that exceed the minimum required.
In a system similar to the purchase of CO2 bonds that gave Tesla so many benefits a few years ago. On that occasion, the European Union forced manufacturers’ sales to not exceed 95 grams/km of CO2 on average at the end of the year. Of course, cars with less than 50 gr/km of CO2 counted double and manufacturers could buy credits from other brands that exceeded the emissions level, compensating for their excesses.
According to the BBC , experts hope that part of this increase will be achieved with a reduction in the price of electric and plug-in hybrid cars. According to Auto Trader , in the United Kingdom, the average price of an electric car is 39% higher than that of pure combustion vehicles.
To see what impact it has on sales we will have to wait, at least, until the end of 2024. At the moment, so far this year, the market share of the electric car in the United Kingdom is 16% and the plug-in hybrid is 16%. 6%. In global terms, 22% of the cars already sold in the country meet the requirements imposed by the British Government, according to ACEA data .
The Guardian points out, however, that the delay in the ban on the sale of vehicles with combustion engines will hamper sales of electric cars. The country is hampered by one of the slowest electric car growth rates in Europe, with a significant deficit in the number of public chargers available. The British media assures that this decision may further delay their installation.