Net zero is dooming Britain’s car industry |
Could there be any greater vindication for the government’s policy of pushing us to buy electric vehicles than the crisis in Iran, which has sent prices of petrol and diesel soaring? That is what the government itself would like us to think, but it is not how the UK car industry sees it.
Never mind the pain being suffered at the pumps. The Chief Executive of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), Mike Hawes, chose yesterday to warn that the industry is in ‘deep jeopardy’ thanks to the government’s proposal for banning new petrol and diesel cars from 2030 and all remaining hybrids from 2035. At an event in London set up to call for a rethink, he said he didn’t know of a single person in the industry who thinks that the targets on EV sales can be met. Decarbonisation, he warned, will simply mean deindustrialisation unless the targets are relaxed.
The UK car industry is already under severe pressure thanks to the government’s Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) mandate. This........