EVA England calls for ZEV Mandate certainty
EVA England has urged the government to provide clarity around the ZEV Mandate, warning that continued uncertainty will undermine sales.
It has been reported the government will weaken ZEV Mandate targets following pressure from industry bodies and vehicle manufacturers.
However, EVA England believes that softening targets will slow the electric vehicle transition and undermine customer confidence at a critical stage.
In an open letter to Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander, EVA England further calls on the government to abandon plans to introduce a pay-per-mile road tax on electric vehicles, which is scheduled for 2028.
Wrong signal
The letter from chief executive Vicky Edmonds said: “Reports that the government may again weaken the Mandate risk sending precisely the wrong signal to drivers, as well as industry and investors. Drivers need certainty. They need confidence that the cars they are being asked to buy are the right choice, and that means stopping the very public back and forth arguments over the ZEV Mandate.
“Our report, Putting the Driver First, also shows that we are about to hit the hardest part of the transition, where we are asking those on lower- and middle-incomes and those without driveways to buy into a technology that is still too expensive, and does not yet work for them.
“The Mandate plays a vital role in helping address those barriers by driving the investment we will need to see to create an industry that works for the driver.
“Our report also raises our continued serious concerns about the proposed introduction of electric Vehicle Excise Duty and any future pay-per-mile model at such a sensitive moment in the transition. Now is not the right time to introduce an additional tax that many drivers see as an EV-only tax. It risks undermining confidence just when we need to focus on making sure more drivers are beginning to see EVs as a viable, practical option.”
