I'm sure others might have seen this - always an interesting take on the EV/alternative fuels debate but this one shows that the UK could potentially be standing on it's own in around 5 years time.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwUDR8WTTKQ
Thanks for posting. Interesting video IMHO. I agree, we may well be standing on our own……we can probably thank the policymakers for that. I wonder what the consultation process was with the relevant motor industry bodies and vehicle manufacturers when the content of the ZEV Mandate was decided upon? (there probably wasn’t a consultation process).
With the significant financial penalties to be imposed under the ZEV Mandate in the UK on car manufacturers whose proportion of EV sales don’t hit the year on year percentage targets of their total vehicle sales outlined in the Mandate, I can foresee the following;
- large stocks of unsold pre-registered EV’s, so manufacturers avoid paying the fines. Many of those pre-reg EV’s will then presumably be sold at a loss. Some car manufacturers might even pull out of the UK market to avoid incurring the fines, resulting in less choice for consumers.
- oversupply of EV’s would suppress used EV values even further (EV depreciation is already frighteningly high).
- some manufacturers might produce fewer ICE cars in an attempt to avoid paying the fines, so by default EV’s become a greater proportion of total cars built. Demand for the fewer ICE cars built would likely exceed supply, and values remain artificially high, like they were during the pandemic.
As outlined in the video, I think there should be greater focus on some of the alternatives such as synthetic fuels, provided they could be produced in sufficient quantity and at an affordable price to satisfy consumer demand. These fuels could use existing filling stations and be used in existing ICE vehicles - apparently with no modifications required - and their use would make a worthwhile contribution towards achieving net zero, provided ‘green’ energy sources are used in their production.
Apologies for going off topic, as I (occasionally
) have a tendency to do.
