Labour Urged Not To Fall Into “Tory Trap” On Electric Vehicles

There are growing concerns from stakeholders the government is watering down its ZEV mandate. (Alamy)

4 min read03 December

Paul McNamee, Director of Labour Climate and Environment Forum, encouraged ministers to “stick to your guns” amid suggestions that they could relax rules around the phasing in of electrical vehicles. 

Last week Stellantis, which owns car company Vauxhall, announced it was set to close its Luton van factory next year “within the context of the UK’s ZEV [zero-emission vehicle] mandate”, putting more than 1,000 jobs at risk. The firm had claimed that there was not enough consumer demand for electric vehicles.

Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds responded by saying he was “profoundly concerned” by how zero emissions policies were affecting businesses at a Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) dinner.

Currently, car manufacturers are legally required to increase the number of ZEV vehicles to 100 per cent by 2035, the date at which the sale of new cars with combustible engines is meant to be phased out. 

The date had previously been 2030 but the Conservative government pushed the date back by five years.

Labour pledged during the General Election campaign to reverse this decision but is yet to implement legislation. The Government told PoliticsHome the 2030 policy hasn’t changed.

“Don’t fall into the Conservative trap of chopping and changing policy,” McNamee told PoliticsHome when asked what his advice to Labour would be amid unhappiness in the car industry with the ZEV mandate. 

“You have a clear mandate for foreign industrial strategy and a clear north star with the ZEV mandate. Even last summer the chief of the SMMT was calling for more government certainty and clear policy.

“What the market needs is to stick to your guns and have that clear policy.”

McNamee said any move to water down the ZEV mandate would make the Government’s commitment to phase out the sale of new combustible vehicles more difficult to reach. 

“The ZEV mandate is one of the biggest single policy levers we have for meeting our net zero goal — whether that be 2030, whether that be 2050 — this is absolutely vital,” said McNamee.

However, he stressed that he did not believe Labour had watered down the mandate, and said some businesses were using the policy as a scapegoat for other economic challenges.

“If you look at the global picture, companies are suffering on global profits all over the world in places like Italy and the US, whether or not they have the same kind of mandates.

“The ZEV mandate has become a bit of an easy excuse that’s convenient for senior management and shareholders to blame government plans that have been long trailed. We’ve been talking about these for years and years and years, rather than actually decisions that are being made, business decisions.”

Adam Berman, director of policy and advocacy at Energy UK, told PoliticsHome it would be “disappointing” to see the Government weaken the ZEV mandate further.

“There is more the Government could do to incentivise EV take-up, but car manufacturers also have a strong role to play in driving demand.

“The ZEV Mandate was announced over three years ago, and it is frustrating to see that some manufacturers haven’t adequately prepared within that time.

“The energy sector has ensured that enough homegrown clean energy is available to power EVs, and there is dismay that some car manufacturers simply haven’t been working to the same deadline.”

A Government spokesperson said the commitment to phase out the sale of cars powered solely by international combustion engines by 2030 “has not changed”.

“We will soon bring forward a consultation which will consider how to support industry to reach this phase-out date,” they told PoliticsHome.

“We are alive to the global challenges the industry is facing, which is why we’re investing £2bn to support the transition of domestic manufacturing and over £300 million announced in the Budget to drive uptake of electric vehicles, as we continue to work closely with the sector to make the transition a success”.

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