Experts are calling on the Government to scrap the petrol and diesel car ban and end all electric vehicle subsidies after it claimed taxpayer money was being wasted on the schemes.
The Alliance of British Drivers is demanding that the 2035 deadline to ban the sale of internal combustion engine vehicles be scrapped “properly and permanently”.
The ABD slammed Rishi Sunak’s speech, calling it ‘weasel words’
PA
The Prime Minister praised the work being done to help drivers switch to electric vehicles, referencing the growth of the charging network and falling upfront prices.
However, he acknowledged that the number of chargers was still far from the Government’s aim of 300,000 by 2030 and that drivers were concerned about switching when the costs of new vehicles were still so high.
Sunak said this would bring the UK in line with other major economies and allow drivers to buy and sell petrol and diesel vehicles after the 2035 deadline.
The ABD slammed the announcement, branding the speech as “weasel words” before claiming that most vehicles need to be electric by the end of the decade.
The Zero Emission Vehicle mandate was launched at the start of this year and will see car manufacturers required to sell a minimum proportion of electric vehicles, starting with 22 per cent of total sales this year, 80 per cent in 2030 and 100 per cent in 2035.
Bob Bull, chairman of the ABD, said: “The public must not have their right to choose removed and public money must no longer be thrown at subsidising new EV sales and usage.
“The tax system has for years given huge advantages to persuade fleets and business users to adopt EVs.
“This is not ‘free money’, it is paid for by the hard-working and struggling people of this country. Enough is enough”.
The Alliance of British Drivers added that it also wanted the Government to stop “throwing public money” at incentives aimed at getting motorists to switch to electric vehicles.
It highlighted how the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) had already called for the Government to slash VAT on new EV sales and scrap the planned increase of Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) set for April 2025.
There are no formal Government incentives for drivers who want to save money on the purchase of a new electric car, as this was scrapped in June 2022.
The only plug-in vehicle grants available for Britons through the Government are for wheelchair accessible vehicles, motorcycles, vans, trucks and taxis.
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The ABD is calling for the Government to scrap EV incentives
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While a handful of manufacturers offer grants, incentives or discounts through scrappage schemes and other measures, there is no central scheme to get money off the price of an electric vehicle.
Robert Johnson is a UK-based business writer specializing in finance and entrepreneurship. With an eye for market trends and a keen interest in the corporate world, he offers readers valuable insights into business developments.
